Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion How are they supposed to choose a career when...

Keep as many options open for as long as possible is a good rule.

My favorite rule is 'you must find work that satisfies your values' particularly when one has lots of choices. For example, I think I have a bit of a 'natural gift' for writing advertising. I used to watch 'Bewitched' and be fascinated with what Darin Stevens did for a living. Dr. Suess started off in the Advertising Business. But propping up consumer culture just doesn't fit my values, so I didn't take that path.

Best Wishes,
Grinity

Wow, having to decide at 14 what you want to do with your life....

When I was 14, I wanted to be a lawyer. When I was 17, I wanted to be a ninja. When I was 18 I went into the army to be a spy...err I mean "intelligence analyst". I never have actually become anything in particular for more than five years at a time, so I guess what I really want to be is "indecisive"...err I mean "flexible".

If they are really going to send her into paths that cut off other options at that age, I like ColinsMum's advice about the flow chart. Good luck!

This is not a hard and fast decision, but gets the students thinking. Too many students want to be a doctor, yet aren't able to pass Algebra I.

This is a reality check.

Good students have more options and will usually take the necessary courses.

My daughter is indecisive. Right now, she is still trying to figure out her science fair experiment for this year. Getting her to commit is a huge issue.

She chose Neuroscience for college because it is a mixture of several subjects. Colorado College is good at giving weird combos of subjects.

DD16 is starting to look at colleges and has picked a career path...so far. I would do as others have suggested, try to get her to think about the factors of the types of work, lifestyle, finances and future options. Does she want to sit at a desk in an office? Do something different every day? Can she imagine a path 5, 10, 20 yrs down the road doing this type of job?

I know it's a lot to think about at such a young age but I wish someone had given me those ideas to think about, what will life after college be like as a working person. That might help her eliminate a few to start. Good luck, it's a tough process!

I think it is really common among the gifted kids to just have a strong interest and joie de vivre about lots of subjects.
In my experience, if you choose a path at 15 and do the prep work for a potential career, many of those courses will still point you to a good variety of choices.
FWIW, I was pre-veterinary, then a French major, then Communication Disorders (only because my friend said I wouldn't have the patience to do therapy! HAH), I had 5 minors in college and took 1 year longer to sort it all out.
If your child goes to a larger university with so many interesting choices it may be really hard to choose, but she will one day!
I'm still sulking about not getting to fit beekeeping and orienteering into my schedule! i could have been a student for 10 more years and been happy happy happy.

That doesn't necessarily nail it down, though. I have a stereotypical office-desk job, and I have a desk, but during the busiest parts of my year, I spend most of my time out of the office, and do something different every day. Other people with the exact same job title could spend their entire workday, all year around, in their office at a desk, doing the same thing day in and day out. But picking that title doesn't condemn them to do so, IYKWIM.

Sometimes high schools push students to make career choices early is because of college application. Colleges would like to see that student's activities have a focus and the student is passionate about something. It is hard to show your passion when you are undecided.

Students do often change their mind once they get to the college. Admission officer know that and I don't think that they care that much. They wouldn't say that we admitted you as English major so you can't study Math, for example. However, there are exceptions, it is quite difficult to transfer from college of letters and science at UC Berkeley to college of engineering which is more competitive. The other direction is easy.

My experience with two of my children:

DS16 decided he would be a cartoonist at 10 years old. I did not comment, nor did I bother to send him to classes to nurture him artistically. When he finished high school at 12, we waited 2 years before deciding what to do. He chose to go to college at 14 when he managed to get a place to read fine arts in animation with a good college.

Two months ago, for the first time since he was 10, he told me he was thinking about studying archeology for post grad and become a researcher. Two days later, he changed his mind and said he'd stay with animation, his first love. Since he turned 16 a few months ago, he managed to land freelance jobs with gaming companies. I think it is a good way for him to taste and decide his future.

DD14 has plans to go to college in Spring. She has her hearts set on psychology. We have not found a college suitable yet. I tried to steer her towards law to no avail. So, I planned for her to be attached to our psychologist this Christmas. We'll see if she sticks to her choice.

Summer programs can be a good opportunity to give kids a chance to explore careers or fields of study in more depth and decide if it is for them. D15 went to THINK last summer, and the Biology/Physiology class she took there seems to have ignited a fire on that subject within her. I thought it would be the Philosophy class she took, but as uaual she surprised me We are looking toward other biology oriented summer programs (particularly something with lab work) for an upcoming summer to see if she likes that aspect of it.

D21 knew from early high school that political science was for her, and has never looked back.

Ellipses, just as an aside (we could start a separate thread to discuss colleges!), I don't think of Colorado College as a great choice for all gifted kids. The main difference from other schools is the one class at a time approach, which can be good for some "gifties". But we have sent kids there from our D's high school who were smart enough, but not in the range of a lot of kids we are talking about on this forum. Not saying it isn't a good fit for many kids, but I would not refer to it as a "gifted college".