Delaware Area Career Center

Did you miss me today? I was out sick and, at the moment, still feel pretty lousy. No matter what I will not be back at school tomorrow because I am scheduled to be at an all-day meeting at central office. Hopefully I will be back at school on Thursday!

For those students and parents who are interested in learning more about the wide range of opportunities available at the Delaware Area Career Center there is an open house on December 2nd from 5:00 - 8:00pm. This is a great opportunity for students and parents to meet with the instructors and learn about all of the different options available. As a reminder, don't forget that even if attending the career center, WKHS students are always WKHS students. With most programs you will have the option of attending the career center for full days (where you would take your lab coursework which counts as elective credits and your academic courses all at the career center) or for half days (where you only take the lab coursework at the career center and then return to WKHS for the other half of the day for your academic classes). You will graduate from Worthington Kilbourne and continue to participate on our athletic teams - even if you decide that you want to attend the career center for the full day. I strongly encourage you to check out the programs as the hands on opportunities to learn something new while also gaining your required elective credits can be a very appealing option!

Free Practice ACT Opportunity

This Saturday, December 4th, Thomas Worthington High School will be offering a free ACT practice test through Kaplan, a test prep company. The test will run from 8am - 1pm. If you are interested, you must sign up for the test in advance. You can register online at kaptest.com/practicetest or by calling 1-800-KAP-TEST. According to the information Kaplan has provided, they will provide you with a complete analysis of your results. This can be a great opportunity if you want to get the feel for what a real testing environment will feel like by waking up early on a Saturday morning. Remember it is also a marketing tool for Kaplan though, so you are likely to receive increased mailings and contacts from them encouraging you to register for one of their test prep classes.

Weekend Wrap Up

Well, did you have a nice Thanksgiving weekend? I sincerely hope so! Mine was fun, but definitely busy. On Thanksgiving we started at my grandmother's house with my mom and step-dad and then later in the day went to my dad's house where his wife and her family were gathered to celebrate. Needless to say there was lots of eating! :-) On Friday my sister convinced me that I needed to go shopping with her and mom. For those of you who know me at all or from reading this blog - I HATE TO SHOP! Everything about shopping bothers me. There is just no enjoyment from it for me at all. My sister and my mom enjoy it which is definitely a good thing for me as they do pretty much all of my shopping for me. This is the one day a year that they want/ need me to go with them. I am sure it is not my positive attitude or enthusiasm for the day since those are both lacking, but I suspect it has a lot to do with my willingness to drive the car, drop them at the door, stand out of the way with the cart or holding their bags. So, we ventured off together at 6am and I am not sure what time we came home - it felt like it had been an eternity, but I don't think it was really that long. My sister left me at home and went back out shopping again until late in the evening - she is definitely a shopping champ! I am thankful for her dedication though as I think she helped get me pretty close to done with all of my Christmas shopping. :-) Hooray! Life will be great if I don't have to step foot in another store for the remainder of the holiday season. On Saturday we spent some more time with my grandmother and mom while watching the OSU game and then went to see Tangled - a cute Disney movie about Rapunzel. My sister, her husband and my niece and nephew headed home today so it was back to the grind with writing recommendation letters. I am thrilled and relieved to share that I am caught up on all of my letters! I'd love to think that I have written my last one of this college application season, but somehow I suspect that is too good to be true. Now that I have brought you up to date on all of my long-weekend festivities, I hope you will stop by my office and update me on how your holiday weekend played out.

Looking ahead I would like to warn you that I am out of the office all day on Wednesday, December 1st, for a meeting at central office on Credit Flexibility and am out for the last few hours of Friday afternoon for another meeting. And, since I am giving you "warnings" I'm not sure if this counts or not, but my voice is pretty much gone. That may be a good thing for you, but it really isn't for me. :-) I'm not sure if I am trying to fight something off or what the deal is, but my throat is bothering me a little and my voice has been going down the drain... and that is without talking to anyone in an effort to help save it as much as possible. We'll see what tomorrow brings and hope for the best.

A "Black Weekend"

The day after Thanksgiving is known as “Black Friday” for all of the people who plan out their day and shop til they drop, but for high school seniors across the country the entire weekend has been called a “Black Weekend.” NOT because of shopping, but because the push to finish applications is down to the wire so parents are forcing their senior students to spend all weekend working on college applications in an effort to try to get them completed. I keep wondering how many of you are really spending the weekend locked away in your rooms stressed out about trying to finish your college applications. Hopefully with December 1st being Wednesday and the fact that all of your application materials that needed mailed for the December 1st deadline were due several weeks ago, many of you were ahead of the game and didn't end up procrastinating to try to get everything done over the holiday weekend. If a significant part of your holiday weekend has been "black" due to non-stop college application work, I hope you finish soon so you can enjoy the last day of the break.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to take a moment and wish each of you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that you have a wonderful day and that you are surrounded by family or friends who mean the most to you. And, of course, Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without food - so I hope you are also able to enjoy some of your favorite foods.

My family is all in town so we will be celebrating several times and definitely enjoying a lot of great food. It should be a great day with people I love and I hope you enjoy the same.

As I pause and think about all of the things that I am grateful for this year I wanted to share with you how thankful I am that *you* are in my life and that I have the honor of working with you. I am very blessed to have a job that I love and to be able to work with people such as you on a daily basis.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Career Fair Photo Finale

This is the final set of pictures from the Career Fair. The Worthington SNP Newspaper is supposed to run a story today about the career fair. I don't live in Worthington, but would love to see a copy if the article runs and any of you are able to save one. (Here is a link to the story.)
Clayton Bushey talks with Scott Williams, an Air Traffic Controller for the FAA.

Sue Bobson, a Social Worker and parent of Mark Bobson, talks with students about her job.

Students talk with Dr. Skura, an Orthopedic Surgeon.

Patrick Archambeau talks with representatives from the Columbus Police Department.

Part of the Commons during the career fair - the donuts brought by Tony Cason, Director of Music Ministry (and parent of Andrew Cason) were definitely a hit with students!

More Career Fair Photos

More Career Fair Photo Fun... Ryan Zinn, an Engineer and one of my friends, talks with students. Bonus fact, Ryan is a heart transplant recipient! He received his heart transplant when he was just 15 years old.

Lyn Tolan-Barbin, News Director (and parent of Jimmy Barbin) speaks with students at the career fair.

Josh Cook and a few other students look on as Rob Brown explains his job and experiences working as a Disney Imagineer.

Chad Ellwood attempts to use the machine as explained by Rhonda Lawrence, a Court Reporter.

Stephen Boyles, Beef Extension Specialist (and parent of CW and Addie) talks with students at the career fair.

Pictures from the Career Fair

Here are some more pictures from the career fair...

Jonathan Black speaks with Biao Ding, a Science Professor and Researcher (also Arthur & Adeline Ding's father)

Mark Bobson with Joe Show, radio host from Q FM 96.

Brad Barbin, Attorney, and parent of current WKHS student Jimmy presents at the career fair.

Nick Bortolani and another student talk with Harry Trombitas, Special Agent with the FBI

Jeff Chilcoat, President of Sterling Sports Management, talks with a group of kids.

Hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of school for the week!

A Huge Thank You!

We survived! For the majority of the fall my personal mantra has been, "Just make it to November 20th, Just make it to November 20th." And we not only made it, but the career fair was a success.

Thank you to everyone who worked tirelessly on the planning committee to help make the event possible. Thank you to all of the students who helped in the days leading up to the event by making reminder calls and putting together materials. Thank you to the students who helped set up the night before the event. Thank you to all of the students who agreed to join us bright and early on Friday morning to help with the event. Thank you to the students who helped clean up after the event. And thank you to every individual who so graciously donated their time, energy, and insight by attending the career fair to represent their chosen profession with the WKHS students!

This entire event was a true team effort and I appreciate everyone's role in making it a success. I have a lot of pictures to share and will continue to share some of them in the days ahead because I know that if I overwhelm this post with pictures everyone's computers will be overloaded. :-) Here are a few that feature students volunteering:

Below: Some of the registration volunteers including Nick Bortolani, Charlie Bassani, and Ali Wright

Above: Josh Lawrence was one of the WKHS men's basketball team members who helped visiting professionals carry their items to their assigned tables.

Career Madness

So, I had grand ideas about what this week would be like on my blog... lots of career related information. I wanted to post interest inventories, facts about careers, useful and not so useful stories about people and their career paths, questions to get you thinking more about careers, teasers about some of the amazing people we have attending the career fair to talk with you on Friday, etc, etc, etc. In my mind it was going to be a great week for blogging updates. Sadly, reality is a far stretch from that.

I am flat out exhausted.

The career fair should be great. Thank you to all of the students who have so graciously donated time and energy to help these past few days so that we are prepared for the next 36 hours (not that I am counting). :-) Thank you also to all of the students who are volunteering to help with set up tomorrow night and Friday morning with assisting our guests. If anyone is still interested in helping out, feel free to stop by school tomorrow any time after school and into the evening. We'll be there until at least 9:30 so you are welcome to stop in and help set up tables. If you want to help Friday morning, meet in the library at 6:45am. :-)

Let's Talk Careers

This Friday is the Career Fair, an event that we have worked very hard to try to plan in order to provide the opportunity for students to interact with a wide variety of professionals from all different career fields. More than likely, this will not be when the lightbulb goes off over your head and you suddenly walk away knowing exactly what you will major on and what your future career will be for the rest of your life. Quite honestly, it isn't that simple. Few people are in the exact jobs they imagined for themselves when they were in high school. Don't believe me, ask around - check with your parents, your teachers and you will even see it reflected in the handouts you will be able to pick up from each professional during the career fair on Friday.

And yes, it even applies to me! When I was graduating from high school I was 100% sure that I would be pursuing a future as a PT/ATC which means a Physical Therapist who is also a Certified Athletic Trainer. By the time I started college that was still my goal, but I was already starting to waver on the physical therapy part of my future as I found out that it would not be possible to complete the physical therapy program at the same time as the athletic training program. I loved athletic training and would never have dreamed (at the time) of giving it up so I changed my major to education and continued with the athletic training. My major was health education, my minor was psychology and my internship was athletic training. Up until the spring of my senior year of college and the start of my student teaching I was still certain that my future would be athletic training. I completed my graduate school applications, went on my interviews and was weighing my options when (during spring break) I realized I didn't really want this to be my entire future. (I know... parents everywhere are thinking "Do not do what she did!" and believe me my own mom had the same thought... actually, I believe her response was something more along the lines of, "If you would have listened to me a long time ago...") I did still go ahead and earn my athletic training certification, something that I was intensely proud of accomplishing even though I never used it in my working career. I loved teaching and working with students so I bailed on all of my previous plans and decided to search for a job in education. As most schools want health teachers who can also teach phys ed (totally NOT me since I lack all eye-hand coordination), finding a job was not easy. I ended up finding a job that I absolutely loved working for a non-profit health organization called Lifeline of Ohio which is an organization that deals with organ and tissue donation. I was there for 7 years and while there my job morphed and changed and my time with students decreased and my time with other special projects increased. I missed working with students and decided to return for my master's degree in school counseling. I left Lifeline of Ohio and worked for a year at Grove City High School as a counselor before being hired at WKHS. And, as some of you know, I am now nearly complete with obtaining my community counseling license to go along with my school license (although I will point out that I have NO intention of leaving WKHS as I love it here)! The point of that whole drawn out story is to show you that there is no way in a million years I could have ever imagined or predicted the way my life would have turned out or the career that I would pursue, but I cannot imagine being happier or more fulfilled in any job.

So, although I am hopeful that each of you will make the most of the time at the career fair and seek information from the wonderful professionals who are so graciously donating their time to talk with all of you, I do not want you to feel the pressure that this is when you should expect to determine what you will be for the rest of your life.

And, in case you don't want to just take my word on it... here are a couple of articles that I really liked and they have similar opinions and lots of good points.

Helping Teenagers Find their Dreams

Choosing a Major, Choosing a Career - Taking the Stress Out

A huge thank you to all of the students who have already agreed to volunteer to help set up for the career fair on Thursday night or to help in some way on Friday morning. I would also like to thank all of the parents who have volunteered to help either at the career fair on Friday, by completing the Career Questionnaire for the Career Resource Handbook or by asking others to help share information and insights into their careers. I appreciate your help very much!

Veterans Day

As you are aware, today was Veterans Day. As I paused to reflect on how much I appreciate the service, dedication and sacrifice so many men and women have given to our country, I couldn't help but think of all of my former students who have served (or are currently serving) in the military.

I'll be honest, there is a part of me that is worried to put up this list because I am scared that I am missing people, but this is the list I could come up with tonight in alphabetical order... Vinnie Aebi, Adam Bardelang, Alex Blake, Josh Burton, Taylor Castelli, Eric Castoe, Austin Clouse, Tom Collier, Drew Cox, Dorothy Dibble, Joda Dotson, Michael Frizzi, and Zach Ellifritz

There are no words to adequately express my gratitude and respect for your courage, strength and dedication to country. Thank you and please, stay safe!

A Basic College Application Checklist

So, it seems that lately in my office a lot of seniors have been worried that they are missing steps related to their college applications. The most accurate and most important response that I can give to you is to look at exactly what the college is asking for and make sure that they have each item requested by the deadline date. (And remember, that means that they actually have the materials in their office - not the date that you bring it to WKHS to have us mail or even the postmark deadline - it is the date that they need to have your entire completed application packet.)

1. Complete your application - generally speaking this will be online.

2. Write your essay. I have mixed emotions if I should list this as #2 because you can't actually complete your application without your essay if one is required, but you probably don't know what the essay questions are unless you have started the application. Some schools will not require an essay while others will require multiple essays. Please plan accordingly because they take a long time to perfect.

3. Complete a yellow Transcript Release form for each school that you are applying. You can find these on the center island area of the Counseling Center. You will turn it in to the secretaries in the counseling center (you do not need to wait to try to see me) along with ALL papers that need to be mailed along with your transcript. There is a $2.00 transcript fee if your transcript must be submitted by hard copy. (Common App and Bowling Green are able to be completed electronically so you do not have the $2.00 fee for those schools.)

Sometimes people ask what are the other papers that might need to be mailed with the transcript. This is one of those pieces that goes back to what the colleges require. Many (most) will have some kind of a college prep/ counselor form that I will need to complete. Although less common, some colleges will have other requests such as a resume, an extra essay, teacher recommendation letters, a picture, etc. If it is to be mailed to the college, then you should include it all in the same packet that is mailed with your transcript and school profile.

Another side note related to the transcript release forms - 10 school days for processing is one of the big points we stress. For those of you with December 1st deadlines, that is tomorrow. At the latest, please make sure your transcript release form with any other supporting materials has been turned in by next Monday! We need time to print your transcript, review it, complete our paperwork, get it mailed and to have it arrive at your college admissions office before the deadline. Please do not procrastinate!

4. Send your test scores - You need to make sure that you have submitted your ACT or SAT test results directly from the testing agency to each college where you are applying. You complete this step directly with the testing companies. If you are not sure if your test was sent, please log on to their site and double check.

5. If your college requires a teacher or counselor recommendation I really hope you have already arranged for someone to write them. Again, you should be giving your recommender at least 30 days notice to write a letter.

6. Double check your entire application, pay your application fee and submit the application.

It truly is not meant to be overly difficult, but it does require a great deal of organization and follow through on your part. With 375 seniors in this year's graduating class it is important to remember that you have to stay on top of things because deadlines are real and you do not want to lose the opportunity to apply to a school or to earn a scholarship just because you had not taken care of all of the details required.

If you have questions, stop by and see me and I will try to help make sure that we are all on the same page regarding what you need to do before your deadlines to complete all of your college applications.

Common Data Set

There are some people who love to get wrapped up in data... and others (like me) who are thankful that someone else can get lost in the data and then tell me what I want/ need to know. However, there are some places that even I appreciate and treasure basic data facts and college admissions data is one of those areas. I used to be able to use the PrepHQ information to give me the majority of the information that I wanted. Obviously not having that data accessible and the resulting frustration has been covered multiple times over. There are still lots of other options for reviewing data and finding useful information about college admissions data. To help make it easier to understand the information nearly all college websites have a feature called "Common Data Set" that will allow you to review their data on admissions, financial aid, and a million other things that might interest you. The easiest way to find this information is to search for common data set on each school's website.

Visiting a Campus

I hope you had a nice weekend. It may seem stupid to many of you, but I love when we set the clocks back an hour and enjoy the "extra" hour of sleep so that was definitely a plus for my weekend - along with a great weekend spending time with my family. Now, it is time to get back to the grind and start looking ahead.

As you look to the coming week, I am sure you are excited that we only have a 4 day week of school. With parent/ teacher conferences on Monday and Thursday evening, Friday is an off day. I hope to be able to make really good use of those extra hours preparing for the career fair. Don't forget, as I mentioned in a previous post, I need volunteers to help on Thursday, November 18th after school any time between 3:30 and 9:30pm and Friday morning, November 19th starting at 6:45am. If you are willing and able to help, please stop by my office to add your name to a time slot.

For those of you who will be using the day off to make a visit to a college campus, I wanted to provide you with some additional information and views on college visits. As I mentioned in this previous post, making visits to a college campus allows students to get an idea of whether or not this campus is a school you can imagine yourself on for the next 4 years of your life. It is a great opportunity to think about what you are looking for in a school and how the college campus and the students/ faculty on the campus fit into your plan.

Don't forget to take a picture on every college campus that you step foot on - even if it is a school you are not seriously considering for your future. We would love to see the pictures, plus, every interaction you have with a college shapes your views on what you are looking for in the future.

Try not to let weather sway you too much on your view of a school - remember, it won't always be the perfectly beautiful, sunny day you might experience during one visit nor will it always be the terribly dreary, rainy day you are forced to endure on another campus visit.

Colleges also know that the qualify of the tour guide you end up with influences your view of their school and they try to manage that accordingly, but if you end up with a guide that is or isn't ideal, try to make your opinion about the school separate from your opinion of the tour guide.

Here are some additional articles that might be helpful to you if you are preparing for college visits:

Don’t Wear One College’s Sweatshirt When Visiting a Rival Campus, and Other Tour Tips

Ask your tour guide about Campus “Traditions”

36 Questions to Ask on a College Visit

College Visits – 8 things you must do

College Visit – 31 things you need to ask

I'm looking forward to seeing you all this week!

December Test Registration

Just a quick, last minute reminder that today is the last day to register (without late fees) for the December ACT and the December SAT. If you were planning on trying to take one of these tests in December, please make sure you get online and complete your registration today!

Report Cards - Again

I heard you didn't actually receive your report cards today. Sorry! That was the "plan" as of last week and I hadn't heard any different so I assumed we were still on target for you to receive them during class today. I did receive an e-mail alerting me to the fact that report cards will go out tomorrow (Friday) during 3rd period. Since I know both students and parents read this blog, I hope I didn't create any problems by my mis-information. Enjoy your weekend!

Report Cards and Reminders

Report cards for 1st quarter will be distributed tomorrow (Thursday) during 3rd period. If you are at the Delaware Area Career Center of have Options during 3rd period you will be able to pick up your report card from the secretary in the Counseling Center tomorrow. Remember, the grades you have now are not the grades that are used to calculate your Grade Point Average. GPA is based upon semester grades. So, no matter what your grades are now, there is still time to bring them up (if that is an issue). Please be sure that you are seeking help from your teachers and the academic assistant's in Room 209 if you are struggling. And I would also like to congratulate all of the students who are off to a strong start! You have no idea how happy it made me to find a note in my box today with a copy of grades pointing out how well a student is doing - I want that for each of you!

A few reminders:

If you are struggling in any of your classes, I strongly encourage you to have your parents set up a parent/ teacher conference for November 8th or November 11th. You can even attend the meeting with them if you are worried about what they might discuss... after all, it is your class and your academic plan they would be discussing. If parents are interested in setting up an appointment to meet with teachers, they can call the Counseling Center at 883-2590 to request meeting times.

Also, don't forget that I will be out of the building for the next two days. I am attending a state-wide counselor's conference so I will be in meetings all day which means I will not be able to access e-mail or voicemail messages until Monday. If you have an emergency, stop in and see another counselor, otherwise just leave me a note or stop in on Monday and we will catch up.

College Application Essays... again

Many seniors are in the middle of working on writing their college application essays. As each student who has gone before you can attest, it is not an easy process. Most of the times high school students are used to writing essays about someone or something else. Focusing on you and what makes you unique can be daunting. I have to be honest, I also find it fascinating. I love seeing what you come up with and how you introduce yourself to the admissions committee through your essay. As I have mentioned before, you need to be sure that you are answering the question, that you are showing (and not just telling), and above everything else, that the reader will learn something about you!

For those of you who might be struggling to come up with essay ideas, the first step is definitely self reflection. I have heard hints to think of the essay as your written interview or as a first date in that you want to tell them the good stuff that makes you special. The more specific you can get in your essay the better off you will be. Generalized claims are simply not as effective. A stronger essay would focus on introducing who you are – what you think, believe, feel, and how you act – through a specific detailed experience. As you work to brainstorm potential topic ideas while also narrowing your topic to something detailed and specific, perhaps these questions will help give you ideas to get you thinking…

- How has this experience changed you?
- Why was this experience meaningful to you?
- How have your experiences shaped your character?
- What is significant to you about being involved in the activities or receiving the honors or awards?
- How have your activities or experiences impacted you personally?
- List 5 key personality traits and how they have helped you in various situations
- What is your personal motto in life? How did you come to this?
- Traits/ Stories/ Examples of “That is so you” moments
- Has any experience changed your perspective or challenged your beliefs?

Once again, remember, it is important to get specific as it is often the small things or experiences in our lives that have a big impact on how we feel, think or act.

As you are probably aware, I spend a lot of time reading college admissions information so that I have the most current information to be able to share with you. Since college essays are a hot topic for seniors all over the country, there have been a lot of recent articles with hints about writing these essays. Below is a list of some of these essays that I thought you might enjoy. Well, at least you would enjoy if you are procrastinating and trying to avoid actually writing your college essays! :-)

Writing the Essay – Sound Advice from an Expert

Some of the More Mundane Moments in Life Make Great Essays

Writing your way into college

Common App Essay Tips

The College Essay as an Early Memoir

Best College Admission Video Essays

Feel Free. Be Yourself. It’s the only Marketing Device that can Work.

What should students NEVER write about in their college essays?

Personal Statement Tip: A Core Concept is Central to Essay Success

Supplemental Essays- Yes They Are Important

A Video on Writing the Essay