There are pretty much two ways it can go: either you’re groomed to be something in particular, or people start saying things like “You can be whatever you want!” to you when you’re far too young to have any idea what you might want to be, or even what the options are, really. Some people never figure it out. Some, though, seem to have it fairly locked at a fairly young age – if I recall correctly, one of the things that impressed Christa McAuliffe about her future husband was that he knew what he wanted to be when he was in eighth grade – and while eighth grade’s pretty young, the main character in Andrew Hinderaker’s new I Am Going to Change the World makes Steve McAuliffe look like a slacker. Hinderaker’s guy, John, has it mapped from age 9 – make valedictorian, marry the pretty girl, go to U of C, graduate at top of class, etc., profit! And then, on the way to his job interview at Goldman Sachs, which is where he’s always wanted to work, everything goes to hell. And then it gets really interesting. The play’s up at the Dramatists through July 1, and Hinderaker, who also wrote Suicide, Incorporated, should really be on your radar if he’s not already. (FULL ARTICLE: Chris Jones, Theater Loop, Chicago Tribune)