Want to Stand Out on College/Job Apps? Get Involved!

Want to Stand Out on College/Job Apps? Get Involved!

Before you know it, graduation will be here. After graduation comes college or a job search. If you want to stand out in a crowded field of college or job applicants, you’ll start building your extracurricular resume now.

Oooh – sounds all fancy, right? All that means is that you’ll get involved in some activities outside of class. It might be sports, drama, band, chess club, or yearbook. But they don’t have to be limited to school-related activities. Other things that will look really good on your transcript or résumé include volunteering, involvement with your church or youth group, politics (even if you can’t vote yet, you can help register voters and other campaign-related activities), ROTC, to name just a few.

What are the other benefits of extracurricular participation – besides enhancing your job and college applications? According to a report titled “Impacts of Participation in High School Extracurricular Activities on Early Adult Life Experiences: A Study of Iowa Graduates,” released by the University of Northern Iowa Center for Social and Behavioral Research, 92 percent of those surveyed said that participating in high school athletics improved their high school experience and 87 percent said the lessons they learned while participating in sports have helped them as adults.

Additionally, involvement in extracurricular activities offers these benefits:

1.      It gives quieter teens a chance to meet people with similar talents and interests.

2.      It teaches them time management and prioritizing.

3.      They learn the advantages of making long-term commitments.

4.      It raises their self-esteem by enabling them to make a contribution.

5.      It helps them build solid relationship skills.

The one caution is that teens don’t overdo it. They still need time to be kids – hanging out with friends, going to dances and football games, and, of course getting homework done.
Encourage your teen children to get involved and stay involved. It will benefit them in the long run.

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ALBERT MENSAH is a champion of opportunity and achieving one’s dreams. Rising from humble beginnings in Ghana, Africa, Albert has become one of the world’s leading student motivational speakers, regularly presenting to groups such as FCCLA, FFA, FBLA, DECA, 4-H, and numerous school assemblies and student council groups. Visit his website to book him to speak at your student assembly, career day, or state or national teachers’ conference.

What to Do When the Adults in Your Life Disappoint You

What to Do When the Adults in Your Life Disappoint You

As children, we were likely taught to “respect our elders.”

In many cultures, respect for elders is a way of life. For example, the Chinese traditionally place the family and society over the individual. The tradition of “filial piety” is the value of total respect for the family, especially the elders. And in Native American cultures, the elders are respected for their wisdom, experience, and knowledge. Vietnamese elders are highly respected, considered the carriers of tradition, knowledge, and wisdom. In black and African cultures, to survive to old age is often considered an accomplishment reflecting personal strength, resourcefulness, and faith.

For those of us less imbued with such traditions, there’s even a WikiHow page that contains advice for ways to respect your elders, including things like:

• Never refer to them by their first name, unless asked to.
• Listen to their advice.
• Show an interest in their life.

But what happens when the adults in our lives aren’t people who deserve our respect? As much as we may hate the thought, it happens.

“I have a hard time respecting my parents (meaning I don’t). But I will always respect my grandparents.”
— Anonymous quote from Tumblr

Sometimes the adults in our lives fall short and are not good role models. If that’s the case for you, what are your options?

• Use your own discretion to know right from wrong. Somewhere along the line, you’ve learned this – even if it’s just an instinct and nothing you can overtly describe.
• Look for good role models. If the adults in your life are not people you can respect, as in the quote above, look for those who are. We touched on this topic in a previous post.
• Have the courage of your convictions – stand up and speak out when it’s safe to do so. Adults are just people – and sometimes they fall short. Whether it’s an oversight or deliberate, sometimes a challenge from someone they care about can be the wakeup call they need to make better choices. But you want to be sure you won’t put yourself at personal risk by doing so.
• Report them if it’s right for you. If the adults in your life are committing criminal behavior, it may be tough, but it’s probably the right thing to do to report them. Of course, every situation is different. Best thing is to turn to those adults you can rely on for help, support, and advice.
• Forgive them. Your parents (or other adults in your life) are doing the best they can, even if they're not doing a very good job. As difficult as it may be, you can forgive and still walk away.
• One day, you may have children of your own. Remember these lessons when you inevitably find yourself disappointing them because you're human.

RESOURCE: http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/3918/4012970/NursingTools/ch23_CultViewElders_407.pdf

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ALBERT MENSAH is a champion of opportunity and achieving one’s dreams. Rising from humble beginnings in Ghana, Africa, Albert has become one of the world’s leading student motivational speakers, regularly presenting to groups such as FCCLA, FFA, FBLA, DECA, 4-H, and numerous school assemblies and student council groups. Visit his website to book him to speak at your student assembly, career day, or state or national teachers’ conference.

Help Your Teen determine Their Career Plans by Asking Questions and LISTENING to the Answers

Help Your Teen determine Their Career Plans by Asking Questions and LISTENING to the Answers

A May 2012 article in Forbes magazine reports that only 19 percent of Americans are "satisfied" in their jobs. And that`s just satisfied. One can only guess how many are truly happy in their work. As teens begin to think about applying for or attending college or joining the workforce, it’s important to give some serious thought to the kind of work they might find satisfying, long term. While a significant number of American adults do make career changes at some point in their lives, those who are happy in their work have happier lives overall. Learning what makes their hearts sing early can help teens make good choices now – as they embark on their higher education and career paths.

Teens, it’s time to start taking that question you’ve been hearing all your life – “What do you want to be when you grow up?" – seriously. Maybe your “ballerina” or “astronaut” answer hasn’t changed since you were 7, but chances are that it has. Of course, if you want to be an astronaut, you should GO FOR IT! One gal I have watched grow up had a collection of plastic horses and stables as a little girl. She pursued her equine passion all the way through to university, where she’s now studying to become a large animal vet. If your passion has changed since you were small – or you don’t know what you might really love to do – the time to start exploring is now!

Parents, if your child expresses an interest in a career, the best thing you can do for them is offer your support, regardless of how wacky or far-fetched it may seem. So they want to be a tour guide in Mexico City but they don’t speak a word of Spanish. Maybe they have a sincere interest in pursuing a music or acting career. Maybe they’re talking about a nontraditional career for their gender, like a girl who wants to be a firefighter. What is the next step they should take? Regardless of how uncomfortable the career choice they mention might make you – perhaps you had a vision of what you saw your child doing with their life, and what they’re saying now just isn’t it – this is their decision, their life, and they need you now to put aside your prejudices and help them explore their next steps.

Begin by asking questions – a boatload of them. Ask things like:

• What activities would you like to pursue next year (e.g., sports, acting or music lessons, volunteering, or after-school job)? What about that activity appeals to you? Is there a particular goal you'd like to accomplish with that activity? How long do you see yourself pursuing the activity?
• Who do you know that really enjoys their job? Have you ever asked them questions about their job (why they pursued it, how they got into it, etc.)?
• What adults – either people you know or celebrities – do you admire? Why do you admire them?
• What kinds of jobs appeal to you? What makes them seem interesting? Can you see yourself doing that work as a career?
• Even after all your classes, what would you like to learn more about?
• Is there anything you’ve never done that you’d like to try? What is it? Why does it appeal to you?
• What’s your favorite memory? Why is it your favorite?
• What’s your very favorite thing to do in your free time?
• Have you ever completely lost track of time because you were so involved in an activity? What were you doing when that happened?
• What do your friends do or say that makes you want to hang around with them?
• What’s the best vacation you’ve ever taken – or would like to take?
• What kinds of local activities appeal to you (e.g., comedy shows, auto or home shows, book fairs, live theatre, concerts, professional sports, factory or business tours, etc.)?
• What kinds of books and magazines do you like to read? What kinds of movies do you enjoy? What kinds of websites do you spend the most time on? What appeals to you about them?
• If you money were no object and you could do anything for a week, where would you go and what would you do?

Parents, as you ask these questions – really listen and pay attention to your teen when they answer. Ask more questions and do less talking – and notice your response to their answers. Though you may think you already know the answers, your teen’s actual answers may surprise you. You definitely want to avoid showing a negative response to anything your teen tells you. If they think you’re going to rain judgment on them – rather than listening with your mind open toward really helping them make good choices for their future – they could shut down on you. Your patience and belief in them will go a long way toward building trust.

Even in spite of your best efforts, your teen or college-age student may find themselves changing majors a time or two during their university career. "I tell [high school students] to have three or four areas in mind that they would like to explore at college," says John Yaegel, school counselor at Tenafly High School (NJ) in an interview an article by Jennifer Gross for Education.com. Gross advises that you help your teen look for colleges with good programs in all of his or her areas of interest. Then, they’ll want to spend their first couple years of college exploring the potential career interests they identified.

Beyond their class choices, your college teen can visit the school’s career center, explore summer jobs or internships, and connect with people in the careers they’re considering (LinkedIn has made this much easier than it used to be). These things will give them a hands-on sense of the career they’re considering so they will have a better sense of how much it will realistically appeal to them.

It’s also important to determine the timeline for your teen to declare his or her major. Certain programs like engineering, architecture, nursing, pre-law, fine arts and others require a longer degree path, so it may be difficult to switch in or out of them down the road.

Career Planning Resources

A Phoenix company, Ignite International, has a vision to transform the “job” culture by helping people pinpoint their life’s purpose. Unlike career assessments, Ignite provides powerful insights into how, why, and where an individual will have the greatest impact and find happiness. Simply put: Ignite will identify one’s uniqueness and the purpose of their life’s work.

And her is a list of career planning resources: http://www.careervision.org/resources/parents.htm.

 

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ALBERT MENSAH is a champion of opportunity and achieving one’s dreams. Rising from humble beginnings in Ghana, Africa, Albert has become one of the world’s leading student motivational speakers, regularly presenting to groups such as FCCLA, FFA, FBLA, DECA, 4-H, and numerous school assemblies and student council groups. Visit his website to book him to speak at your student assembly, career day, or state or national teachers’

It’s Time to DO Something About Minority Youth Incarceration

It’s Time to DO Something About Minority Youth Incarceration

If ever there were a good news/bad news situation, this is one of them. A new Kids Count report, “Reducing Youth Incarceration in the United States,” indicates that our rate of incarcerating young people has dropped by more than 40 percent over a 15-year period, with no decrease in public safety. However, the U.S. still leads all industrialized countries in locking up its youth, the majority of whom are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses like truancy, minor property offenses, and technical probation violations. What’s more, African American youth are nearly five times more likely to be incarcerated than whites, and Latinos and American Indians are two to three times more likely.

And how’s this for a startling statistic? One year at Princeton University = $37,000, while a year in a New Jersey state prison = $44,000*. Seven thousand dollars MORE per year for jail than for an education! Yet that’s where we’re sending our minority youth by the truckload.

I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking it’s time we stop accepting the fact that minority youth are overrepresented at every level of the justice system, from initial contact with police all the way through incarceration. 2008 estimates put the numbers of black youth at 16 percent of the general population, but they accounted for 30 percent of juvenile court referrals, 38 percent in juvenile placement, and 58 percent of youth in adult prisons.

Part of the problem is the framing of the problem. According to a highlight of a report in The Future of Children: Juvenile Justice, Volume 18, Number 2, Fall 2008, by Hilary Hodgdo, some argue that the disproportionate numbers are due to “differences in how minorities are treated by the justice system, with minority youth receiving harsher scrutiny and treatment than whites.” Others contend that minority youth simply commit more crime.

In his chapter in The Future of Children, “Disproportionate Minority Contact,” Alex Piquero argues both claims have merit, yet both are oversimplified. Piquero urges researchers and policymakers to move beyond the debate over which cause matters more. He suggests that policymakers can encourage and provide funding for research examining both patterns of offending by race and ethnicity and causes of disproportionate contact. This research should include:

• Identifying risk factors for offending and whether they differ by race/ethnic group and social/cultural environments.
• Gathering more data on ethnic and racial discrepancies in police practices, perceptions, selection, and processing by the juvenile justice system. It is insufficient to simply note that disproportionate minority contact exists; we must begin to identify at which point in the justice system discrepancies occur and who perpetuates them. 
• Paying particular attention to the treatment of minority youth by police in order to determine why ethnic and racial disparities exist at the initial stage of juvenile justice processing. Surprisingly little research has been conducted on disproportionate minority contact at the police level and thus policy has not focused on this issue as much as it should. 
• Researching juvenile offending trends based on racial and ethnic groups rather than the simple categories of black and white.

Recommended Policy Changes

Piquero further suggests system-wide policy changes, including:

• Providing education and training to police and juvenile justice staff about cultural sensitivity and risk factors for youth offenders.
• Implementing state and/or federal initiatives to reduce the harm caused by youth justice system contact in an effort to reduce the likelihood of continued involvement in the system.

Hodgdo notes that the MacArthur Foundation’s Model for Change Initiative, currently operating in four states and influencing the justice system in a dozen others, has focused on making juvenile justice systems more rational, fair, effective, and developmentally sound. It’s high time that other corporations, foundations, philanthropic organizations, communities, and concerned citizens jump onboard this important cause. The future of our nation depends on it!

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ALBERT MENSAH is a champion of opportunity and achieving one’s dreams. Rising from humble beginnings in Ghana, Africa, Albert has become one of the world’s leading student motivational speakers, regularly presenting to groups such as FCCLA, FFA, FBLA, DECA, 4-H, and numerous school assemblies and student council groups. Visit his website to book him to speak at your student assembly, career day, or state or national teachers’ conference.