Jasper Donnelly
According to engineering and IT company Apollo Technical, Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 change jobs an average of 5.7 times, almost once per year. Furthermore, most people living in the U.S. will have 12 jobs during their working lifetime. These statistics can be attributed to the culture of schooling in America, and the pressure of making first-year college students choose what their future careers will be. Frequent job changes, however, are not necessarily bad, and can even be good for some individuals.
For instance, science teacher Mark Brassey encourages those interested in an education career to first pursue a job other than teaching. “Teaching is an awesome career, but it’s made better if you have [outside] experience,” he said. “Having experience where you actually have to work really helps hone the importance of teamwork, and understanding how teams work. If you want to teach psychology, go be a research assistant for a psychology project for a couple years, and then go teach. If you want to teach economics, go work for the Federal Reserve for a couple years, and then go teach economics. If you want to teach science, go get on a science research vessel.” Brassey noted his own experience with a job making a data center more environmentally friendly as a career that gave him real-world perspective.
HAVING EXPERIENCE WHERE YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO WORK REALLY HELPS HONE THE IMPORTANCE OF TEAMWORK, AND UNDERSTANDING HOW TEAMS WORK.
Contrary to Brassey’s experience, math teacher Rachel Congress always knew that she wanted to become a teacher. She was unsure, however, of the path she could take to get into the career. Congress initially started out as an art major, with plans to either become an artist or teach art. Despite this, after taking an introductory psychology class, she found that she really enjoyed the topic, and eventually changed her major to psychology.
Congress pointed out how making young students choose their major so early could lead to burnout if not managed carefully. “I also decided not to go in the art direction because I felt like it was making me a bit burnt out on art,” she said. “[The subject] was really important to me, and I didn’t want to completely lose my passion for it.”
Lastly, history teacher Benjamin Beresford was interested in becoming a historian and possibly going into biblical studies as a student. This dream continued into college, with the idea of teaching never crossing his mind. While attending graduate school, he discovered that his school’s program required him to complete a year of student teaching in order to graduate. This requirement not only functioned as training for a possible future career but also acted as a source of income, since the graduate students were paid a small stipend.
Ultimately, this job was how Beresford got into teaching. “I was definitely really nervous about it, and I thought I wanted to do research or be a writer,” he said. “This was just one of those things that you had to do.”
When Beresford began his program, he realized that teaching was vastly different from what he had initially expected. “As the months went by, I found that my favorite part was being in the class and talking to students,” he said. Beresford continued to explain how his love for the profession slowly grew, as he worked with low-income communities in Arizona. Overall, his attitude toward the career completely changed, due to a program he had initially been unaware of.
WHEN BERESFORD BEGAN HIS PROGRAM, HE REALIZED THAT TEACHING WAS VASTLY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT HE HAD INITIALLY EXPECTED.
The implications of having young students decide what they want to do for careers are not black and white. Some say that if the school system better prepared students for the process of choosing a major and career path, it would be easier for them to make a decision earlier. Others say that the system works as it is. Many people not only have different opinions on the matter, but have had extremely different experiences with it. Perhaps this points to a more fluid solution—letting those who feel ready to choose their careers early do it, and letting those who don’t wait a few years. While this idea is simply one out of many options, we cannot simply ignore the current college and career system. There should be more attention toward this matter in order for society to decide whether improvements need to be made, and if so, how to go about them.
PERHAPS THIS POINTS TO A MORE FLUID SOLUTION— LETTING THOSE WHO FEEL READY TO CHOOSE THEIR CAREERS EARLY DO IT, AND LETTING THOSE WHO DON’T WAIT A FEW YEARS.
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