John is the son of a priest: "'I am a priest and the son of a priest!'" In their society, a child doesn't "plan" on having a "profession" in the way that we, in our society, are familiar with. The question pertaining to John's education, work and future calling might be better expressed in terms coherent to his society as: What future work or calling does John envision himself as having? The answer would be: He envisions himself as being a priest as his father is a priest.
John's future work is aptly expressed as an envisioned calling because, as in much dystopian literature, elders select the work children will pursue as their adult occupations. In a sense, John's future work might be called a "profession" since it will require years of specialized education, training, practice and initiation. In another sense, the sense pertaining to their specific social developmental time--which is different from the dystonian chronological time that includes the pre-Great Burning era (i.e., equivalent to our time)--John's society is so backward that the comparative development of their society predates the comparative introduction of the word "profession" into their total chronology. To clarify, the word "profession"--in the sense of work done that requires extensive education and training and intensive practice and initiation (in our times, initiation by way of licensing exams as for a license to practice medicine or a license to practice law)--was introduced in 1610, while John's society is depicted as having reverted to a prehistoric period, especially evident through the depiction of the "Forest People": "We are not ignorant like the Forest People—our women spin wool on the wheel, ... [w]e do not eat grubs from the trees,...."
We are told that John's elder brothers are hunters: they are brave and respected because they are the elder sons of a priest. We are also told, though, that they are not brave enough to venture to undergo the test required to follow in their father's steps and become priests: If they were to take the test and fail, they would die by being "blasted": [John says,] "I took [the metal] and did not die. ... [M]y brothers would not have done it...." In John's society, a boy may dream of a future position but may not be permitted to fulfill the dream by his own plan alone, as may have been the case with John's brothers (one may have dreamed of being a priest but fear of the metal-holding test prevented him from trying to fulfill his dream). In contrast, a boy may be encouraged to aspire to a future work because he and his father both dream of it, as was the case with John. In John's case, his father was a respected priest, and he wanted John, his third son, to be a priest, and John, in return, dreamed of being a priest like his father.
Then my father came out with the metal—good, strong piece. He looked at me with both eyes but I had not run away. He gave me the metal to hold—I took it and did not die.
In terms coherent to John's society: John dreamed of being a priest; he undertook the test to be a priest; and he past the test to be a priest: "[I] did not die." Consequently, upon passing the test, John expects to undergo the education and training required, which his father will administer, and to succeed in his initiation, "I came to my father and said, 'It is time for me to go on my journey. Give me your leave.'"
As to John's plan for a profession, since John's training to be a priest begins as a matter of course after his metal-holding test, since it begins as a matter of an automatic series of events that occur to him beginning with being fed and treated differently ("they gave me the good piece of meat and the warm corner of the fire"), and since these events occur under his father's watchful eye ("My father watched over me—he was glad that I should be a priest"), it is incorrect--it is anachronistic (of the wrong date)--to speak of his "plan" for a "profession." Notwithstanding, we can very clearly say that, based on the protocols, traditions and rituals of his society, John has been selected to be a priest and that he is glad, because being a priest--like his father is a priest--is John's dream. As the fulfillment of the tests, requirements and desires of his society, John is inducted into plans for being a priest that require fulfilling his education and training and passing his initiation ("I asked for and received purification. My body hurt but my spirit was a cool stone") and succeeding in his quest ("Now go on your journey"): "[H]e said, 'It is forbidden to travel east.' ... Then I knew I was meant to go east—I knew that was my journey."
My father is a priest; I am the son of a priest....
I was truly his son and would be a priest in my time....
"It is time for me to go on my journey. Give me your leave." ....
[He said,] "This is a strong dream." ....
"It is mine," I said,....
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