Reflections

Derek Stephenson

Career and Major Exploration

Lesson 15

Reflection Paper

When I first read over the syllabus that was offered in this class I thought to myself “is this a class I really want to take?” Of course, I’m the slacker who waits to long to drop the class so I’m stuck. Having said that I realized over the semester that not only was I extremely undecided on a major and career path but I lacked some valuable skills when it came to interviewing and marketing myself in this crazy rat race we call life. At the beginning of the semester when we had to figure out our short and long term goals I thought this would be easy, I had my future pretty well planned out. I was wrong. Everyone says put your goals down on paper that way they will be easier to follow and usually in succession. After putting my goals down on paper I realized that I was very unorganized and had no real idea of where my life and career could go. Both my school and career goals have always been in the back of my head and so seeing them on paper was like a map with clear directions. I have achieved a lot of the short term goals that I set for myself at the beginning of class and I have also added more to help keep me on track. Another valuable skill that I took out of this class was how to market my knowledge, skills and abilities to an employer. In this day and age of layoffs and outsourcing, our job market has become extremely competitive. I have learned some valuable skills that will hopefully allow me to set myself apart from the other candidates. I loved the elevator speech lesson. I think if you perfected that short speech you could potentially land any job you desire. I have not yet narrowed down what I want to be when I grow up(if that ever happens) but after doing the job shadowing assignment I have learned one job that I don’t want to do. I had plans to go to school to be a respiratory therapist because of a friend who loves his job doing that exact thing. After job shadowing for just an 8 hour day I am totally sure that is one job that I’m not cut out for. Had I not job shadowed, I might have wasted all that time and money learning something that I really might not like. I have learned to try on the shoes before you run the marathon. At the end of the semester when it came to revising the goals that I had set previously, it made me realize how important it is to look at your goals often. I realize plans can change but if you stick to your goals and work hard at your craft, you will eventually achieve success and happiness. I mean look at me it only took 5 years of night school to get an associate of applied science degree. Maybe in another 5 years I will finally receive a bachelor’s degree. I plan on continuing my education (at night or online) and hopefully get accepted to graduate school. I currently have a terrific job that I love and have worked at for the past 6 years but I want to give myself options if I need them. I may have already found my career at my current position. I have seen a lot of people who have lost their jobs because of the downturn in the economy or their position is no longer needed. For some of these people this was their only job they ever had and they don’t have many transferable skills and have trouble finding work. I want to give myself options, and the way to do that is with education and hard work.