UWindsor ‘plan ahead day’ encourages students to set career course
Article content
If you’re thinking of going to university, find out what you like, what kind of experiences you’d like to have and make a plan.
Article content
That was the advice given students who attended a “plan ahead day” at the University of Windsor’s Toldo Health Education Centre on Saturday.
The message resonated with Gabi Brown, a Leamington District Secondary School student who came to the day’s seminar after attending a Build a Dream event that encourages young women to enter careers in which females are underrepresented.
Advertisement 2
Article content
“That’s what got me thinking about maybe engineering. I want to build blueprints or do 3-D models of things to give to people to build,” said Brown who attended the event with her mother and a friend.
“Today I got my answer — that’s not really engineering, it’s actually more computer science. I’ve been taking computer science in my high school.”
Helping students find their right path through university was a central theme of the day.
“It’s thinking about not (just) what subjects or programs to take,” said Farrah Francis, who works at the university’s career planning department, “but really for students to take a deeper look in terms of what are their interests? What are their skills? … Their values? And how does that relate to some of these programs (and) careers?”
Students thinking about their education path should realize it’s not always a direct path from school to career, Francis said.
“Planning your career is a continual journey. You gain experiences along the way.”
Students often look for that direct path at the beginning. “Sometimes you wonder, ‘Am I going to get the answer?’ They just want the final answer: ‘What should I be? What should I do?’ But we just try to explain to them it’s more of a journey, as opposed to just the final answer.”
Advertisement 3
Article content
Part of that journey could be gaining experience before university or outside of school, she said.
For someone who might be interested in writing, for example, she advised students to find a way to become part of that world. “Take on different opportunities. It could be a volunteer position, or a part-time job where they get to work at a library, or work at Indigo where they have lots of books.
“Just be in the environment and then see what opportunities are related to that experience.”
Computer science and engineering are two big areas popular with students, she said. “They usually go by the trend, or what they feel sometimes makes the most money. So … computer science, because they feel it’s going to lead right into a career, or engineering specifically.”
Vivian Tang, a fourth-year student in the computer science department, advised students to “come out of their comfort zones and take risks and learn things that they probably are too scared to take the first step in learning.”
And she encouraged high school students to think ahead early in their schooling about what they like to do. “We touched upon what courses they should be looking at in high school. Computer science is very math-based so you want to have a strong math foundation in high school.”
Advertisement 4
Article content
Tang said she gets “a lot of questions about salary,” and students also want to know what life in the profession is like.
“Computer science and technology is all you ever hear about on the news these days. Whether it be the new programs that are coming out, new technologies … or even just the perks of working in technology.”
Beth Natale, director of student recruitment at the University of Windsor, advises students to think about what motivates them.
“Think about what makes your heart sing,” she said. “What are you passionate about? What do you excel at in school? What kinds of interests do you have outside of school?
“Try to harness those interests and … translate them into something that is going to lead you in a career direction.”
She also advised parents and students to discuss what kind of experience they would like to have in university.
“Is it going to be fiercely competitive and survival-of-the-fittest, or is it going to be collaborative? Are they going to make friends? That’s a huge part of it.”
And anyone going to university should consider financial arrangements early on, she said.
“It may seem overwhelming when you’re first getting started. You kind of get a sticker shock when you look at the price tag for things, but once you start planning and thinking about the multiple sources of funding — (for example) working co-op as an opportunity to earn and learn — it becomes less stressful.
“It’s not something you want to start in Grade 12.”
Article content