Dear Students,

The time of year is upon us in which educational institutions re-open their doors for another year. I’d like to address the students – specifically students who are at the stage of choosing, or at the very least, considering thinking about maybe planning to entertain the potential thought of a career path. You’re at a crucial junction in your life, and while you don’t need the added stress, take this moment in your life with a great deal of seriousness. You may be in high school, college, university or some other learning institution. Either way, hear me out. I don’t profess to be an expert on the subject of career choices and life decisions, but know that I’m including hard-earned experience and opinions in this letter.

What will you do to earn a living? It’s a heavy question indeed. Your family may have ideas as to what you should do, and they may not. Your friends may have ideas as to what you should do, and they may not. Your instructors may have ideas as to what you should do, and they may not. Standardized government testing may have ideas as to what you should do, and it may not. Guidance Counsellors should almost definitely have ideas as to what you should do, and they (rarely) may not. Only one person’s opinion on this topic matters, and that’s your’s.

The most important thing you should consider before choosing a path are your interests. What would you like to do day in and day out in order to earn a living? You definitely need to recognize your strengths and talents, but make sure that you’re focusing on talents that matter. The ability to burp the alphabet, while disgustingly entertaining, might not get you far in life. Determine how your talents will help society. It may be difficult to assess your own interests when you think about it. Anything that you can passionately talk about for hours on end to the point of making other people’ head explode can be a good indication of what you should parlay into a career. Don’t let anyone influence your observations. Overzealous parents especially like to tell you what you should be interested in. Guidance Counselors are supposed to be experts in this area, but they’ll likely never talk to you long enough to know what you’re capable of. Keep an eye on your interests. In my case, I noticed halfway through my second year of Pre Pharmacy in university that I was purchasing books on JavaScript and Perl and actually reading them instead of my Anatomy & Physiology and Organic Chemistry textbooks. While there’s nothing wrong in coming to this realization later on, it can be an expensive oversight, which you’ll become painfully aware of when repaying student loans. Sometimes you can’t avoid the late revelation of where your interests lie. If you have to take general education and elective courses, get a few out of the way early on, should you decide to switch majors later on – they should still count towards your degree/diploma/certificate/qualification.

It would be a good idea to inquire about job shadowing somebody working in the area that you’re interested in. This will give you the opportunity to experience a day (or more) in the life in the line of work that you are considering.

Study hard, live cheap, remain focused, don’t smoke bathroom floor drugs, buy used textbooks instead of new ones, and have fun.

Your pal,

Chris