College & Career

College & Career

Being a college student, I know first hand what it was like when I was a senior in high school trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. It was a nerve wrecking time senior year, trying to decide where I wanted to go to school and what I wanted to major in.  At 18, you're still on the fence about a lot of things so it's alot to ask someone at the age to decide on what they want to do for the rest of their life! I knew I wanted to go to college that was for sure, but it wasn't till my senior year that I decided what I was going to study.  I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the arts.  I just had no idea I would want to be a teacher.  For the longest time I was against being a teacher and disliked the idea of going back to school to teach kids.  I had people tell me that they believed I would be a great teacher, but it still wasn't something I saw myself doing.  It wasn't until I volunteered to help out at an Arts festival where things changed. I worked at a booth there and helped kids make some art.  I can't explain the feeling I got, but that day something clicked for me. Something changed. I realized in that moment. 

I could see myself being a teacher!  

I loved making art and I loved working with kids.  So ideally being an art educator seemed like the right choice for me.  If I were to teach high schooler's I would definitely want to introduce them to some art careers that some of them may want to consider pursuing.  It's easy to pinpoint the students who have an overzealous passion for their art and love to create.  These students will have specific skills and talents that you would be able to recognize.  Once you recongize their gifts you can guide them and inform them on opportunities for their future.  An example being, you have a student who's a talented designer and show an interest in graphic arts you may talk to them about how they could have a career as a Graphic Designer.   Most students don't know alot about what art careers are available to them.  It's alot more than they realize...

Their are so many careers for students to choose from and it will probably astound them to find that their is a career that they can see their selves pursuing.  It's important to really get to know your students and be interested in what they are interested in.  It's also important to give them practical advice, especially if you feel their expectations or ambitions may be too far off.  However, you must always encourage them and be supportive of what they want to pursue and never tell them what to do.  At the end of the day it is their decision.  You can give your opinion and be honest, but ultimately they will choose.