When I was in Grade 9, I took a career aptitude test. One of the top suggestions was 'Social Worker', which I found immediately appealing. Soon afterwards, I decided I wanted to study psychology with an emphasis in child and youth counseling and stuck with that for basically all of high school. It was nice just to feel confident and secure in my future by having a career already picked out, plus psychology is just way interesting, am I right?
So, in my application to BYU-Idaho, I declared psychology as my intended major.
By the third day of classes, I knew that I no longer had the desire to make a profession out of psychology, which was actually a little frightening, because I haven't really even considered any other options for some time. I spent the next weeks dwelling somewhat on what I did want to do. It wasn't until earlier this month, upon seeing that class registration for next semester begins on the 7th, that I realized I needed to step up my game.
There were (and are) a few areas and classes that I find especially compelling - English, linguistics, German, business and marketing, even psychology still - but I just couldn't see myself doing any of those things as a career, either for reasons of enjoyment or practicality. I took another career aptitude test from the Academic Discovery Centre, which was totally unhelpful; I have no desire to be a zoologist, horticulturist, or a meteorologist. And it didn't help that results from my interests, abilities, and values inventories did not coincide at all. ('Farmer' was on there, though. At least they got one thing right.)
I forced myself to realize that, aside from Carly's Custom Creations, what I really want to do with the rest of my life is be with kids and be able to put all my skills to use, especially the creative ones. So, in a moment of total clarity, I went and switched my intended major to Elementary Education.
Is it bad that this was one of the more impulsive decisions of my life?
I mean, it wasn't even one of the suggestion from the aptitude test!
How did I miss two of your posts in a row? I think an Elementary School teacher is an excellent choice!
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend the government of canada work values test. It doesn't give you a list of jobs so much as help you figure out what characteristics of a job you would find more rewarding. This is the address - http://www.jobsetc.gc.ca/toolbox/quizzes/quizzes_home.do?lang=e
ReplyDeleteLooks like they've added a few more items since I checked it out last.