How to Choose what to do after high school…

 

by Katherine O'Brien, ThD candidate, Certified College Planning Specialist kob@CelticCollegeConsultants.com

 

 

Again and again teens report feeling overwhelmed about choosing a college major. Many also are stressed out about deciding whether or not to even go to college.

This is exactly what I do in the early phase of my College Success Program. I use a data driven, step by step process to help teens determine which career aligns with who they are, with their individual gifts, talents, strengths, weaknesses, personality, values, etc. Once that is identified, we proceed to explore  programs, majors, and schools (or other paths) to get them to their goal.

 

Here are a few of the key questions

 

Who are you?

What are your strengths?

What are your weaknesses?

What are your interests?

What are your values (moral, social, ecological, etc.)

What are your dreams?

How do you best learn? – What method(s)? What setting(s)?

 

Where do you want to go in life?

What kind of work?

What kind of Peers?

What kind of person do you want to become?

What kind of person do you want to marry?

Where do you want to live? (What kind of locale? Where in the country?)

 

What are the paths to get from where you are to there?

What are the requirements? Degrees, certifications, internships, etc.

What kind of professional network do you need to build?

What kinds of friends do you need to cultivate?

What sort of lifestyle will help you get there?

Which of your weaknesses do you need to overcome in order to be successful?

How can you leverage your strengths to do that?

 

Which of those is the best way for you to get there?

What environment do you need in order to thrive? – living circumstances, learning circumstances, social environment…

 

What do you need to do to get from here to there?

College?

Apprenticeship?

Trade School?

Certificate program?

On the job training?

 

So, how is a 17 year old supposed to decide? Is it even possible?

 

To be honest, most don’t do very well at this. The introspection required is difficult. Having a mentor and accountability partner to lead you through this exploration is essential to this process. Most never do it… and fumble around in college, changing majors, dropping out, or working various jobs after high school, sort of figuring things out by a somewhat random process of elimination. Both of those are inefficient and painful. Learning by discovering what makes you miserable is pretty brutal. Some of us can project, can imagine a future in a certain circumstance and decide whether heading that direction would be good for us. Most of us can’t do that. We have no idea how to imagine something we have not experienced.

 

ALL of my College Success Program students start with this process. Only after we have these answers, do  I guide them to programs, majors, and colleges (or trade schools!) that offer what they are looking for. Email me to set up an initial meeting to discuss your situation and how the College Success Program can help your teen on his or her journey to college. KOB@CelticCollegeConsultants.com