Choosing Your Career

Lindsey M. Bogart and Ashley R. Hopper

Platte County R-3 High School

According to (University of La Verne. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2015), National

statistics vary but most state that at least 50% of entering college students are undecided about
their majors. That to us, proposes a problem. Also, (University of La Verne. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 14, 2015) states that, 50% 70% of students change their majors at least once, most
will change majors at least 3 times before they graduate. (Career Planning Checklist: High
School. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2015) explains, Now is not the time to let your
schoolwork get away from you. Stay on track with schoolwork and plan ahead for deadlines.
Spend more time studying the subjects that are the hardest for you. How you perform in high
school let's colleges gauge what type of student you are and lets employers assess what type of
employee you'll make. Plus, you will learn skills in school that will last you a lifetime. Students
go into college unsure and not experienced enough to make a decision on their future career.
When is a good time to start thinking about the future? Freshman year of highschool.
Why wait until senior year to think about college? That already puts students many steps
behind, they are feeling lost college even starts. Picture this: freshman year you start in a
semester/year long class and it opens your eyes to how many different careers there really are. As
you continue through high school you will take a class that helps put you on the path to the right
career for you, may it be through quizzes, videos, hands on learning, games, etc. The goal would
be for students to know or at least be guided in the right direction on what career they are going
to pursue. Too many students drop out of school because they cant make the connection

between what theyre doing in class and what they want to do after graduation. We have to make
high school relevant for students, state Schools Superintendent John Barge (Georgia News
Digital Advertising Athens Banner-Herald Newspaper UGA Bulldogs. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 16, 2015). Starting earlier may not help completely but it will give students a better
understanding and hopefully put them on the path to success. Our goal would be for students to
find the right fit for the rest of their life, do something you love and youll never work a day in
your life.
In our research we found that even the most successful people started with the same
problem. Robert C. Pozen is the president of Fidelity Investments. There was no grand plan; I
backed into my career one step at a time., he states in the article (A Better Way to Plan Your
Career. 2012, November 29. Retrieved December 8, 2015) In his early steps to finding a career
he said he needed to find out a great deal about himself. Also what helped Pozen was to gain
experience in different ways and even different countries. Pozen says that you may not be able to
control the trajectory of you career but you can increase your probability of success by
approaching your career with the right mind-setone that recognizes that career planning is a
continuous process that has to be actively managed This is what we are wanting to accomplish
by starting earlier. The earlier you start, the more informed you will be.
In the book Most Likely To Succeed (Wagner, T., & Dintersmith, T. (n.d.). Most likely
to succeed: Preparing our kids for the innovation era.) Tony Wagner compares 20th century
learning to 21st century learning. In 20th century learning it is isolated from the real world, based
off of transcripts and grades and there is a lot of seat time. The 21st century learning is the
complete opposite of the 20th century learning, it is connected to the real world, there are
internships/co-ops/study away/virtual, it is competency based, and obsessed with authentic

learning. 21st century learning does not currently look like this. A class that provides information
and hands on learning to real world career opportunities will be what 21st century learning looks
like, that is something we would like to make come alive.
We have brainstormed ideas of what we would like our solution to be. Two alternatives
we have come up with are, a website or a seminar class throughout every grade level. Our
thought on a website was that it would have all the information you would need to help decide a
career to pursue. It would have interest quizzes, games such as the one (NCRC-TV: Could This
Be Your Life? (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015), and information on any career field you
could be interested in. This website could also connect you to more than just ideas. (Discover.
(n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015) states that discover, train and apply are the three steps to
making your research a real life experience. It will link you to colleges and maybe even your
wanted career. Websites such as this one, and many others will be available for any student that
needs guidance or help.
We decided that a website would not be enough hands on or real life learning. Yes it
would be a very informative way to get students to gain knowledge about future careers they
might have but, what if you had questions, who would you ask? There would be no real guidance
on what to do with the results you receive after taking a quiz or what your next steps may be.
Also, with a website you would not get as informed about colleges. It would provide a lot of
information but so would a seminar class every Tuesday and Thursday.
A seminar class is our other alternative option. While it would also provide a variety of
information, it would be more hands on and structured. We feel that hands on and structured
would be very beneficial and students doing hands on, real life work will get a bigger impact on
finding a career. A teacher would be there to help guide and give advice, for example, if you

were interested in nursing and wanted to see what a day in the life of a nurse is like, a teacher
could help lead you in the right direction. According to Career Cruising,(Potential Starts Here.
(n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015) Career Cruising is a self-exploration and planning program
that helps people of all ages achieve their potential in school, career and life. Students in
seminar could get on websites like these to just get an idea of what types of careers interest them
or even sound like something they would enjoy doing as a career.
The problem with a seminar is that kids will often find excuses as to why they cant go
which defeats the purpose of the class. Also, seminar is not taken very seriously. It has no grade
and no curriculum which makes it less of a priority. We would want it to be taken seriously and
for it to help people so they dont feel lost and confused their senior year. While 21 percent of
high school seniors said their career decision was influenced by something they saw on TV or in
a movie, 47 percent relied on research they conducted online, 32 percent pointed to advice from
parents and/or family members and 25 percent said one of their teachers advised
them,according to ( Survey of High School Seniors Reveals Their Plans for the Future That
May Help Bridge the Skills Gap. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2015). If 42% relied on
research they did online, imagine what a whole year long class would do. Which brings us to our
final solution.
Our final solution is to make a year long class that you will start your freshman year of
high school and take until senior year of high school if you would like to continue this class all
throughout high school. Use All 4 Years of High School to Prep for College explained how
using all four years is very important. It was very similar to our vision for the class we are
wanting to establish. (Use All 4 Years of High School to Prep for College. (2013, September 9).
Retrieved December 14, 2015) This class will be very independent and self-oriented. According

to (Giang, V. (2013, July 16). 14 Things High Schoolers Should Know Before They Go To
College. Retrieved December 16, 2015), Most young people arent prepared for college.
Theyre unprepared for the college level coursework, financial responsibilities, and freedom they
have been granted all of the sudden. This class will give you a heads up as to what youre
signing up for. Through all of the research you conduct you will be knowledgeable about the
workload you should expect. Sophomore through senior year, this class will be designed to fit
your field and others that chose the same one. Each year will have a different ending goal, that
will also tie into where youre at in your life. For example, freshman year you wont be asked to
pick a certain career or looking real seriously into colleges that have the career you want and the
right fit for you.
Freshman Year:
This will be when you take your interest quizzes and play games to find out more
about you. The goal of this class is to spark interests and make ideas for your future.
Career exploration improves students knowledge of career options, encouraging them to
develop and work toward goals during the critical years when they are also beginning to
venture beyond the orbit of their parents, according to (Why Career Exploration Matters.
(n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015). Students exploring outside of what they know/ think
they want to do is the best way to go. They need to get out of their comfort zone and
explore the other types of careers out there for them. Every two weeks you will be
checked on your progress and findings. It will be asked that there is a summary made of
your success and failures. At the end of the year, there will be a paper over your final
findings and new things you learned through the course of the year.
Sophomore Year:

This is the year you will be placed in figs but we would rename itsig the s
being for sophomore. Freshman Interest Groups is a unique program for freshmen that
extends learning from the classroom to the residential hall. A FIG consists of a group of
10-15 students that take 2-3 courses together, state's (Freshman Interest Groups - What
is a FIG? (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2015.) You will dig deeper into the field youre
interested in, looking at specific jobs and what they have to offer. You will obviously not
be stuck here, if you find that this is not what you want then you can change the career
and decide on another career that you are more interested in. Second semester you will
begin looking into colleges that grab your attention. At the end of the year hopefully you
will be closer to finding the perfect career path.
Junior Year:
Colleges will be more of a focus this year, our hope is that you find a college that
matches with your career path and fits you as a person. When you find the right college
you want to feel comfortable to be able to stay there by yourself and feel comfortable to
meet new friends. You will be allowed x amount of excused absences to go visit these
colleges, and when you return you will be asked to write down a brief summary of your
visit and why you liked or disliked it. Step 1: Conduct Thorough Internet ResearchThorough Internet research is an important first step when considering any online degree
program. Though it is of course wise to look at the actual website to learn more about the
school and its degree programs, it is beneficial to read user reviews, blogs and other
social media outlets that may feature comments from past and present students,
according to (Vocational Information Center: Career and Technical Education Resources.
(n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015), this is the first step you would take to find a right

college for you. There are obviously a lot more steps than just one, this it just to give you
an idea of what you could start out doing.When visiting colleges you can find people and
ask them about a specific field of study and gain more knowledge and information in that
way too. As an end result of this class you will have 2-3 colleges narrowed down to pick
and choose from.
Senior Year:
This is where hands on really comes into play. You will be allowed to go shadow and
look at people in the real world doing the job(s) you think you are interested in. You will
see what your future could look like and how an everyday day would be in that work
field you are interested in. It would be very eye-opening and resourceful for you, to get
an idea of how your future workplace would be. I think that conducting research was the
best part of my curriculum, because I got to put what I learned in the classroom into
action and come up with results that no one else ever has. It let me know that working in
a lab is in fact what I want to do in my career, stated Ankur, college senior, (College
Majors & Career Search - Explore your interests for College. (n.d.). Retrieved December
1, 2015). You would not be stuck to one career. Say you are looking at the medical field,
you can look at nurses, doctors, surgeons, physical therapists, etc. At the end of this year
we would hope that you have a great idea in your mind of how your future would be.
Hopefully you know the school you want and the career or at least the career field you
want to be in.
It is not likely that we end up actually making the class happen, but we hope that in the
future this class/idea will be in the class curriculum. This class is the ideal curriculum to have in
a high school for students to gain knowledge about the career they plan to pursue after college.

We hope that everyone else sees the importance in it like we do, and somewhere along the way
this becomes a real life thing. It will impact the students greatly by easing their mind and giving
them guidance about the future, as we know, it is a scary thing. While a website or a seminar
may be more practical, we do not think it would be as impactful on students as a year long class
would be.
Students go into college unsure and not experienced enough to make a decision on their
future career. That is a major problem, the students should feel prepared to go into college with
the right idea of what they want their future to look like. 50% is a big number of students going
into college undecided on their career, this 50% is the number we wish to reduce by adding a
class that focuses on their career and future plans. A website would simply not be good enough,
they wouldnt have a teacher telling them what website to get on and they would have to do it by
themselves. Most students want to try and figure out what career or college they would like to
pursue/ attend but some have to be forced to even think about those things because school itself
doesnt interest them enough. There would be no guidance and structure and the students would
not get what we want out of it. A seminar would work, but it would take away from other class
help and we feel it would not be taken very seriously. Seminars are meant for getting help in
your other classes and if you have missed a day then you can take a test during seminar, taking
that away from students would mean a lot more late work and having them come in before or
after school to take a test they missed. Our solution to this world problem is to make a class
available for every grade (9-12) and student that is wanting help and guidance on career choices.
It is our hope that with this class our students will leave Platte County High School with a greater
knowledge of the real world and confident mind about the future. Turning classrooms into 21st
century learning will be a big step, hopefully this becomes part of that transition. Students would

benefit from this class so much by learning exactly what they would like to do with their life,
even if it's a career that doesnt mean going to college, if it suites them then they should do what
their heart desires.(Career Planning Checklist: High School. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10,
2015) Many students are college bound, but all students are career bound.

Reference Page:
A Better Way to Plan Your Career. (2012, November 29). Retrieved December 8, 2015
American Careers Educational Programs. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015
Career Planning Checklist: High School. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2015
College Majors & Career Search - Explore your interests for College. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 1, 2015
Discover. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015
Freshman Interest Groups - What is a FIG? (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2015
Georgia News Digital Advertising Athens Banner-Herald Newspaper UGA Bulldogs. (n.d.).
Retrieved December 16, 2015
Giang, V. (2013, July 16). 14 Things High Schoolers Should Know Before They Go To College.
Retrieved December 16, 2015
List of Education Accreditation Agencies World Wide. (1999, November 30). Retrieved
December 16, 2015
NCRC-TV: Could This Be Your Life? (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015
Potential Starts Here. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015
Survey of High School Seniors Reveals Their Plans for the Future That May Help Bridge the
Skills Gap. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2015
University of La Verne. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2015
Use All 4 Years of High School to Prep for College. (2013, September 9). Retrieved December
14, 2015.

Wagner, T., & Dintersmith, T. (n.d.). Most likely to succeed: Preparing our kids for the
innovation era.
Why Career Exploration Matters. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015.