Career Thoughts for Future

What do you want to be when you grow up? When you were little perhaps it was a professional athlete, a superhero, or a famous entertainer. Chances are that now that you are in high school you have started re-thinking some of your potential career choices. While there is still a lot of uncertainty and you will, in all likelihood based upon the statistics, change career paths in the future, it is time to start figuring out what you might like to be when you grow up.

I *know* you hate it when I say this, but the reality is that you need to know yourself and follow your passions. If you love what you do and you are willing to work hard then you will be able to find success. Everyone has their own unique gifts and talents and it is imperative that you determine what career will best meet your needs. This means you have to figure out what is important to you and how you can incorporate that into your life. For example, for those who love sports it can be hard to imagine life without athletics and, many times, these individuals will pick (at least initially) careers that involve sports - athletic training, sports management, sports marketing, etc. This might be the perfect combination - but truthfully, it might not be a good fit. Knowing yourself and knowing what you have a passion for is important in determining what characteristics of a job will be best suited for you. In this example, the sports minded person might pick a career that involves teamwork where groups of people work closely together to reach a common goal. Or, if you decide that you are not going to be able to fulfill one of your life's passions through your career, then it is important that you still honor that influence in some other way - perhaps playing on an adult recreational team or coaching a youth sport team. While this example deals with sports the same concept applies to any of your interests and passions - art, music, learning.

So, while I am not asking you to abandon your dreams of fame and fortune as the professional athlete, superhero, or entertainer, I am asking you to start thinking seriously about what will make you happy, what is important to you, and how a career can help meet your needs and goals in life.  

One important career related opportunity available to students is participating in one of the programs at the Delaware Area Career Center.  I wanted to remind all sophomore students interested in participating in the field trip to the Delaware Area Career Center on Friday, November 22nd that your permission slips are due back to the secretaries in the Counseling Center by Thursday! I realize that this is a month before the actual field trip, but the Career Center needs to organize the visits based upon the programs that you want to see. If you are even remotely considering applying for admission to the DACC, or interested in exploring the types of things that someone in the careers that are addressed at the career center do as a part of their jobs, I strongly encourage you to join us for the field trip!