What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

This WebQuest is about career exploration. Students will take a career survey and will then research two careers of interest to them. They will also research colleges or other training facilities to see what is required for admission, tuition, etc. The culmination of the project is a PowerPoint presentation created by the students to tell their classmates about their future career goals. 

How often does someone ask you what you want to be when you grown up? This is a common question for adults to ask children and teenagers in order to break the ice, but it is also a question that has a lot of punch to it. There are many paths from which to choose, but not all of them are right for you. What DO you want to be when you grow up? Have you really put any thought into it? This WebQuest is going to take you through a few steps to help you at least gain some clue as to what you might like to be when you grow up, and, just as important, it will help you discover which road you need to take and what you need to do in order to make that dream happen.

Your task is to come up with an informed answer to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" When you finish this task, you will be able to identify at least two possible answers to this question, along with explaining where you would like to go to receive the training you will need, how much money you can expect to make, and what you will do on a daily basis once employed.

Note: Being a professional athlete or a rock star is a wonderful career goal that I hope you will strive for if that is what interests you, but for the sake of this assignment, let's focus on your "plan B" because everyone needs to have a back-up plan just in case "plan A" doesn't work out.

You will be completing this process on your own. 

Step 1: Take three career surveys. Go to the link below and take the surveys. Write down your results and three or four careers on the list about which you may be interested in learning more. If you see a career on your list that you do not recognize, feel free to click on it and read the description. Do not spend too much time reading about the career because you will have to do that in step 2 on another website. 

https://www.pacareerzone.org/assessments

Step 2: Choose four careers that you would like to research. Go to the Occupational Outlook Handbook and skim over the descriptions for each career. Based on the information you have read, narrow your career choices to two in order to complete the rest of the process.

Occupational Outlook Handbook http://www.bls.gov/OCO/

Another Tool for Choosing Careers to Research http://www.bls.gov/k12/

Step 3: Now that you have chosen the two careers about which you would like to know more, go to the Occupational Outlook Handbook website linked in Step 2 and read more thoroughly. If the website does not give the information you need or want, feel free to go to Google and search for more information about the careers you have chosen. Answer the following questions about EACH career in Microsoft Word:

1. What would you be doing on a daily basis?

2. In what kind of environment would you work?

3. How much money could you expect to make right out of college? Further in your career?

4. How much training would be required?

5. What kind of training facility would you need to attend right out of high school? (college, junior college, specialty school, etc.)

Your answers need to be 3-5 sentences in length.

DO NOT COPY AND PASTE YOUR ANSWERS! THAT IS PLAGIARISM!

Step 4: According to what you now know, what would be some pros and cons for each of the careers you have researched? List AT LEAST three pros and three cons for each career in a table on Microsoft Word. You may put this table on the same document as your previous notes.

Step 5: Find training facilities (colleges, etc.) that offer your career choice as a major. Research at least two colleges or other institutions, depending on what kind of training is required for the careers you have chosen. Answer the following questions about each college using Microsoft Word (you may choose to use a table or a bulleted list):

1. What major is offered that will train you for your career choice(s)?

2. How much is tuition? Housing? Fees? Books? Etc.

3. What are the admission requirements for freshmen?

4. What are the admission requirements into the program (major) in which you are interested?

5. What scholarships are available? Look especially at the academic scholarships and include the requirements for these. 

6. What do you need to do in high school in order to be accepted/prepared for this college?

7. How far away is this college from your family? http://www.mapquest.com/

8. List at least 3 pros and 3 cons for each college you researched.

Hints:

*Once you get to the college website, click on "Future Students" or "Prospective Students." These tabs usually point you in the right direction for the information you need.

*When looking at tuition costs, make sure you state whether the amount is per semester or per year. Note: "Resident Student" means you live in the same state as the college. "Non-Resident Student" means you live in a different state than the one in which the college is located. "Non-Residents" pay more tuition for most colleges than "Residents" do.

*Undergraduate means the first four years of college, which leads to a bachelor's degree. Graduate means anything beyond a bachelor's degree, such as a master's degree or doctorate. An associate degree is a two-year degree.

I have provided links to some websites that may help you. Please do not feel limited by these websites. If there is a school in which you are interested that is not on the list, go to Google and search for it.

University of Alabama http://www.ua.edu

Auburn University http://www.auburn.edu/main/prospectivestudents.html

Samford University http://www.samford.edu/

Cumberland School of Law http://cumberland.samford.edu/

Birmingham School of Law http://www.bsol.com/

Troy State University http://www.troy.edu/index.html

University of Tennessee http://www.utk.edu/

Jefferson State Community College http://www.jscc.cc.al.us/

University of South Alabamahttp://www.usouthal.edu/

UAB http://www.uab.edu/home/

University of Montevallo http://www.montevallo.edu/

Georgia Tech http://www.gatech.edu/

Culinard: The Culinary Institute of Virginia College http://www.culinard.com/

Jacksonville State University http://www.jsu.edu

Julliard http://www.juilliard.edu/

Harvard University http://www.harvard.edu/

Duke University http://www.duke.edu/

Massachusetts Institute of Technology http://www.mit.edu/

Step 6: Choose ONE of the careers you researched. You will create a PowerPoint presentation that will inform the class about your future life in the career you have chosen. What will your life be like? What kind of lifestyle will you lead? What will you be doing on a typical day? What kind of car will you be able to afford? What kind of house? Where will you most likely live in order to get a job in your career field? Use clipart and other graphics to make the presentation visually appealing and informative, but also make sure it is very easy to read and follow.

Your PowerPoint presentation must be 7-10 slides, including the title page.

Step 7: Reflect on your choice by writing an essay about your career choice. This essay needs to include a general summary of this career, why you think you would be good for this career, and why you think this career would be good for you. This should be a five-paragraph essay, including an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Type your final draft in Microsoft Word.

You're done! Hopefully you are now on the right path to the career of your dreams! Remember to keep an open mind and keep an eye out for new careers that are popping up all the time in our rapidly changing society. By the time you graduate from high school, there may be many more careers that are of interest to you. Just stay focused, work hard, and aim high! Success is in reach for every one of you if you believe in yourself and set goals now.

Author(s): Michelle Gillilan