Blog Post 4

• Option G (you can write about this after we’ve had Class 2 on September 2^nd):
• What were your top 3 interests?
• Which were surprising? Which did you expect to see?
• How would you define what each of these interests means to you? (Don't use the official definitions from the sheet- talk about what they mean to you.)
• Which majors and careers matched with your interests that you might want to explore further?
• Any interests that you can see using in spare time instead of in your job (possibly based on interests that were lower ranking for you)?

     My top 3 interests were social, enterprising and conventional. I was not surprised at all that social was my top interest because I love being around people and spending time with people. I know that I absolutely want to be around people all the time in whatever career I end up in. Conventional didn't surprise me too much because I do like to be organized and have a routine and order to whatever it is that I'm doing. Enterprising somewhat surprised me. I know that I have leadership skills and I do like being in charge, but I'm not too keen on persuasion or public speaking. 

     I would define social as simply enjoying being around people and interacting with others. This is definitely something that I value and I want to intentionally build relationships with my future coworkers. Enterprising sounds super business-y to me. When I think of enterprising, I think of meetings and cubicles and suits, which doesn't sound super appealing to me but it also doesn't sound that terrible. I would define conventional as realistic, structured and clear-cut. I definitely value these things and want a routine in my work. 

     Some careers that matched up with my interests that grabbed my attention were hospital administrator, administrative assistant, and manager. Some majors that popped up were hospitality management, marketing, and sports and recreation management. I'm really interested in hospitality management and I am definitely leaning towards changing my major to that in the next few weeks. I don't really see myself ever using anything artistic in my work or in my spare time. I'm not very creative and I don't really care to be. However I can see investigative interests being a part of my life. I like to solve problems and ask hard questions about things that I care about. 

Blog Post #3

• Choose one person that you admired growing up and write about him or her. What were their qualities or characteristics?
• How were you like this person? How were you different?
• Would you like to pattern your life after this person? What would you do similarly or differently?
• How does your role model solve problems? How do your methods seem the same or different?
• How might this information inform your choice of a major or career?

     Growing up, and even still, I really admired my older cousin Morgan. She is 13 years older than me and she now lives in Florida, but I look up to her every day. Honestly, when she was in high school and college, she wasn't exactly the most admirable person. She spent a lot of time drinking and doing drugs and sleeping around.  But, I never had an older sister and I think that's how I viewed her, so I didn't really care. I was also a lot younger, so I didn't really understand a lot of that stuff. We were actually never really that similar growing up. She was super girly and I was a tomboy. She liked going out to parties and I liked playing sports. She had periods of severe depression and I was always bubbly. But she was always really great to me and took good care of me. She actually wanted to spend time with me even though she was significantly older than I am, which I think is one of the biggest reasons why I always followed her around. Now, we are much more similar. She became a Christian about a year after I did, and now we have an eternal bond that will never separate us. We have never been closer because of it! 

     I would like to pattern my life after Morgan's. Once she decided to follow Jesus, she really turned her life around. She married an incredible guy and has two beautiful little boys. Her kids are her priority and she is a fabulous mom. I really admire the way she carries herself--with confidence from the Lord. Morgan solves problems by bringing them to Jesus. Her understanding of the importance of prayer is something that I admire greatly and want to understand as well. Morgan's husband makes a lot of money, so she is able to be at home with the kids. She has never really had a career, so I'm not sure how I could use my admiration for her to help me in my career. But I do know that I want to work with people and love people the way that she does. 

Blog Post 2

• Create a visual representation (pictures and/or videos) of activities, people, or things that excite you, make you curious, or make you think.
• What topics do you love to talk and think about?
• What kinds of interests are represented in the visual items you collected?
• How could these relate to possible majors or careers?

 

      These pictures are representations of some of the things that I love most as well as things that excite me and make me curious. There is a picture of my family because they are very important to me and I love spending time with them. There is a picture of a Young Life logo because I am a Young Life leader. I included a picture of a Bible because I am a Christian and reading the Bible makes me curious and makes me think. The last two pictures are of my Young Life team and of some of my best friends. These people have shown me what community looks like and that it's something I was made for. Things that I love to talk and think about include my family, my friends, and my faith. 

      I think these things relate to possible careers because I have realized that I want to always be surrounded by people. I don't want to be sitting in a cubicle all day where I am only interacting with a computer screen. Community and relationships are important to me and I want to have a career where I can build relationships with my coworkers as well as my clients and customers. 

Blog Post 1

     There aren't many career patterns in my family. My oldest brother followed my dad's footsteps and entered the information technology field, but that is the only career pattern that I have noticed. My family members are involved in lots of different careers. My mom is a nurse, my uncle owns a car dealership, my other brother is pursuing a degree in entrepreneurship, my grandparents owned a local flower shop, my other grandfather was in the military, one of my cousins is a graphic designer, and another cousin is a lawyer. It makes sense that career patterns exist in families because we are greatly influenced by our family members and often times family members have similar personalities. My family members are all different kinds of people which I think may be a reason why there aren't many patterns.

     My dad's highest level of education is a master's degree and my mom's is an associate degree. I think that they both have high expectations for my education but not because of their own education. They don't expect or require me to get anything past a bachelor's degree, but I think their expectations of me come from the fact that they want me to be able to support myself. My work values are kind of a mix of those of my immediate family members. My dad values money and leadership positions. My mom values challenges and doing her job thoroughly. My oldest brother Kyle values learning new skill sets and information as well as genuinely enjoying what he does. My other brother Trevor values new ideas and recognition. I think that all of these things are important in a job, but what I value most is relationships with coworkers, looking forward to my job each day, and job security. I do think that my family members will impact my choice of a major and career. My oldest brother had jobs lined up before he even graduated college and has moved up the ladder since his first day on the job so he set the bar pretty high. Although my parents are very supportive and want me to pursue a career that I will love and enjoy, they often tell me that I have to find a job that has a salary I can use to support myself. I think my parents expect my to make more money than I expect myself to make. 

      After taking the personality and interests tests, the major that keeps popping up that I have never looked into before is hospitality management. After briefly looking into this major, some potential careers could be restaurant management, hotel management, food service operations, and human resource specialist. I worked at a sub shop this past summer and really enjoyed the customer service aspect of it and constantly interacting with customers and coworkers. Hospitality management sounds kind of similar to that so I definitely want to do more research on it.