The fourth part of this course talks about how to apply/employ strategies to make the goals you’ve defined achievable through simpler tasks like the Rule of Three. The rule of three seems so helpful because it essentially kicks starts your job search and career path, which can otherwise seem daunting. Though it’s evident you do the research and networking yourself, I thought the particular emphasis on letting others help you form and refine your goals was important as it highlighted the tool of collaboration. It was interesting to think about chaos theory in a positive light, in approaching life with a temporary lens or focus rather than one that’s overarching. Focusing on the present and making peace with an unknown future, can make decision-making easier and less of a ride-or-die choice as you’re only focused on the next step.
The interview with Barbara Oakley was fascinating because she talked about the harm of putting yourself in a box too early. She spoke about not latching on to past ideas or careers because the people around you have found success or were successful in the past, rather she encourages you to think about how to think. She speaks about the importance of expanding your passions and ensuring you are well-covered to find success in an unpredictable world. The importance of broadening or trying to diversify your skills in order to be employable. It was interesting to hear the conversation because it spoke directly about the Wesleyan community and the fact that there was such little correlation between students’ majors and their outcomes. This was helpful to hear because society places so much pressure on declaring what you want to do that it can be easy to feel like by choosing that major you are automatically signing up for a distinctive career. The reason why I came to Wesleyan and decided to attend a liberal arts education was that I didn’t know what to do and felt that it was important to harness the skills to be successful and applicable to any career. By opening your mind to what you are able to learn and continuing to update your skills, you’re able to be considered a useful asset no matter where or what you’re doing.
The workforce is in constant flux and your career needs are constantly changing, as a result so much is out of your control that determining a career by pure logic is impractical. One of the best ways to get to know an industry is by enlisting the help of those that are already in the field. Though intimidating, asking people to tell you their stories is a great way to break into the field and get a glimpse of what really goes on. This is in relation to self-reflection on the experiences you’ve already partaken in, making a list of what you enjoyed and didn’t particularly like about each experience can help identify the aspects that are most important to you. I think that from this experience in particular I gained the knowledge that knowing what you don’t want to do is just as important and informative as finding out what you want to commit yourself to.
