Families are the compass that guide us.
They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.
Brad Henry
Brad Henry
Family Genogram Project Reflection
As I talked with my family, I realized how quickly things have not changed in terms of our occupational choices. With three generations on my genogram, I recognize significant patterns in our career choices. My great grandfathers, Elton Maxwell and Ranson Benfield, came to this area to work for Humble Oil. Humble Oil laid out streets, provided utilities, sold lots, and even furnished financing for employees' homes. Humble also furnished housing for its supervisors and skilled employees in a special "company addition" and built a large community building for their recreational needs. Humble Oil was their savior from the east Texas farms and central Texas cotton fields. Humble Oil offered stock to their workers and my family began to prosper financially. My grandmother, Shirley Benfield, and my grandfather, Jerry Tom Maxwell, fell in love at Sam Houston State University. They were the first in their family to attend college. My grandfather followed this father footsteps and he went to work for Sinclair Chemical Company, now LyondellBasell. My grandmother was going to be a Home Economic Teacher, but she had my mother, Terrie Maxwell. My grandmother did enter the workforce later as an accounting supervisor. Guess what industry she worked for? Right, the petrochemical industry!!! My mother followed her mother footsteps and became a Business Teacher. My father followed my grandfather’s footstep and went to work for LyondellBasell. I followed my mother’s footsteps and became a PE Teacher. My future husband followed the family path and is employed at a PetroLogistics, owned by ex-LyondellBasell employees.
As I contemplate whether each of my family members were satisfied or content with their occupation, I believe that each of them did feel content, but I also believe that part of that contentment was from the result of financial stability not the actual work itself. When I look my generation, I picked my occupation because it fit my strengths and wants. I want to be a counselor, because I love helping people. My future husband, however, may have picked his occupation as a result of financial stability. It appears the women of my family have more freedom of career choice. Did my family decide what every male would be when they grow up?
