Post 10

            Chapter 10 is something that is really important to everybody at some point in their life. We spend our high school career deciding what we want to do with the rest of our lives and then at 18 we are supposed to know and have our plan all made out. I think this chapter did a really good job of showing that making a career decision is really not that simple. You have to consider what personality type you are, then you have to think about what other goals you have for your life and what is important to you when you look at a career. When I first began college I was going to become a veterinarian, I loved animals and all I wanted to do was help them. I had my plan al set, until I realized the hours that a veterinarian ends up working. I found out that they don’t get to work a typical 9 to 5 job. They are on call whenever animals decide to become ill, and with these hours I knew that I wouldn’t be able to have the family like I wanted in the future. I remember the day that I realized this and I felt so distraught, the two years I had put into college for biology was all for nothing, but then I realized that I could still help people if I switched my major over to psychology. When I did this my whole schooling experience changed, I started loving all my classes and I quickly realized that I was not in the right major before and that the counseling field is what I was meant to do with my life.  Even though I wasn’t in my career field yet it was still a tough decision to switch from my lifelong plan of being a veterinarian to an entirely new pathway. But I am so glad I took the chance because I am much happier now and I can still fulfill my love for helping animals by volunteering at shelters in my free time.

            Another key point that really hit home with me was the idea of recreation. This is something that I can tell I am going to have trouble with as my career goes on. I am the type of individual who will just work their hardest and forget about adding in some relaxation and fun time. I am always picking up extra hours when I can and just working myself into the ground sometimes. I can see myself following in my dad’s footsteps and it scares me. I don’t want to be the type of person who puts work first and family second, and thankfully I have a fiancé who always gives me a reality check when I need it. He is always right there to remind me that I need to take time for myself and even though it’s hard I am starting to see the importance of taking some true recreational time. I am just going to have to remember this as I become a counselor that I need to leave my work at work and come home to just be at home. I know it is going to be a challenge for me but I don’t want to become a workaholic and I want to make sure I am there for my future family.

            As a future counselor the chapter is key in trying to help high school students decide what they want their life path to be. I think from this chapter I have learned that it is really important for individuals to take time and explore all their options, and along with this they need to know that is a process is ongoing and it is not something that a person can decide on in a week or two. Also, I think it will be important for me to work with my students on strategies they can use if their job takes a negative turn. I want them to have ideas of how they can turn this negative aspect into a positive one and how they have control with how their job works out. 

Corey, G. & Corey, M. S. (2010). Managing Stress. In Brooks/Cole (9th edition), I Never Knew I Had a Choice (132-169). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.