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 in 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 change my mind 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..." - You can ask her about it Friday - she will be at WKHS as one of our guest professionals.) 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 also obtained my community counseling license to go along with my school license and now work part-time as a hospice grief counselor.  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 my jobs.

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.  Hopefully though, it will serve as an opportunity to open your eyes to some fields you might not have previously considered, will help introduce you to professionals working in the areas that interest you, and will provide the opportunity to truly focus on thinking about what areas you might be most interested in pursuing in the future.

I also want to give 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 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!