Student survey displays what is most important, future employees

 
According to a recent survey of 117 students, 60 percent of CFHS students consider personal interest the most important thing when about to choose a career.

“I just rather [would] do something I really like. I don’t really care if I am not going to make a huge movie, and I will never make a lot of money. I just want to get my movies and my ideas out there to the world. And scare people,” junior Carrsan Morrissey said. He intends to go to college to help him prepare for a career in the horror films industry.

Senior Cody Bredman agreed. “I’d rather have fun at work and be poor than hate my job and be rich,” he said.

Junior Baily Chekal said he thinks that having time for her personal life is also a deciding factor. “I eventually want kids, and I want to be able to spend time with them, do fun things and go on vacation.” She also said that her family’s opinion counts. “It doesn’t bother me as much, but I would like them to approve what I am going to do,” Chekal said.

53 percent of students indicated that they care less than 5, in a scale from 0 to 10 (10 being the highest), for their family’s opinion. “My family’s opinion doesn’t really influence me, but they support me, which helps out,” junior Dilyn McDermott said. He wants to be involved in culinary arts and said that at the same time he wants to enjoy his job and make a good living as well.

Opportunity for growth is another point that students care about. “If you can’t improve your job, make more money and work your way up, you probably are not choosing a good job. You probably won’t enjoy your job, and it is not how an American goes through on choosing a job and making a living,” junior Zach Worthington said.

To make it easier to figure out a pathway, Cedar Falls High School offers help to its students through “I Have A Plan Iowa.” It is a website with lots of information about different careers, what they are about, where professional areas fit, how profitable they are and more. Having an account there allows students to take quizzes that determine their interests and goals and gather all the information they need. It gives options of careers that match their personalities.

Susan Langan, counselor at Cedar Falls High School, believes that career exploring is very important, not only for the students, but also to the counselors. “We try to be proactive, working with the students in a guide way to give them some foundation,” Langan said.

She agreed that it is crucial for the students to know themselves, so they can be involved in things related to what they like, what they are good at and what kind of life they want to have. “We don’t expect kids to know exactly what they want to do after high school, but we expect that they at least do some exploring and have ideas about what areas they want to go into,” Langan said.