Asking Questions

When you start thinking about and planning for what to do after high school, you need to ask a lot of questions. If you are planning to get more education, you might want to think about these things:

Question: How do I find out what I am good at?

There are lots of things you can do. Some of them include:

• Thinking about what you like to do for fun
• Thinking about what you like to study in school
• Finding out what kinds of careers are connected to the things you like to study
• Going to your guidance counselor and asking for help in finding information on careers and what kind of education is required to be hired in that career
• Taking some interest inventories to find out what you like and what you might be good at

Question: Who knows or could help me discover my strengths and my weaknesses?

Anyone who knows you well can help you with this. Consider these people:

• Your teachers: Ask some of your favorite teachers to tell you what they know about you and what they have seen you do. Ask them to help you list some of your strengths and also some of the things you need to work on.
• Your family: Your family probably knows you better than just about anyone. They see you every day, eat with you, and play with you, and everything else in between. They know who you are and what you do well. They also know what’s hard for you and what you need help with. Ask them to help you make a list and then compare this against what others have told you.
• Your friends: Next to your family, your friends probably know you best. They will also see you differently and may have different ideas about the things you are good at and things you might need to work on. Friends are a great resource to find out about your gifts and talents!
• Yourself: When it really comes right down to it, you should know yourself best of all. Down deep inside, most of us know what we’re really good at, what we enjoy, and what we hate doing. We also know what we aren’t so good at. Your Private Journal (in My Youthhood) is one way to explore your own thoughts and feelings about planning for your future. Take a look at what you have written. This might be a really good tool to use as you think about getting more education after high school and learning more about yourself.

You can ask anyone you trust to help you with this. Again, we think it’s a great idea to make an appointment to see your guidance counselor. Even though everyone else probably has great ideas, your guidance counselor is trained to do this – that’s their job!