Daily Archives: May 12, 2017

Resources for High School and College Grads

May 12

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By Jessica Dunkel, Reference Department

Graduating from High School or College is wonderful. You’ve put so much effort into getting your diploma and now you’re finally done! Congratulations are in order, and unfortunately, so is the brick wall of reality that usually starts with these questions:

What do I do next? Can I afford college? Do I even want to go to college? Can I get a job with my Associate’s/Bachelor’s degree, or will I need an additional schooling? What do I even want to do with my life?

And that’s the million dollar question – what DO you want to do with your life? If you haven’t figured it out, don’t fret – you’re not alone. Even some adults don’t know what they want to do when they grow up (we may look like we know what we’re doing, but that’s very far from true). Unlike us adults, you – my darling, doe-eyed, young reader – have time on your side. And although you have more time to figure things out, how you spend that time is important.

That’s why we’ve put together a long list of resources to get your started. Note: this is NOT an exhaustive list. Putting some serious effort into researching these things can make a HUGE difference in the trajectory of your life, even if you already have a life plan. (Example: having to go back to college to get a second degree after realizing majoring in Psychology was fun, but careers in Psychology are not. True story.)

The list below is numbered, but there’s no real order when it comes to researching. If you feel like you’re all over the place, you’re still doing it right because you’re doing something. The resources below can point you in the right direction regardless of where you’re at.

1. Find out who you are.

Not all of us had a “calling” since birth, or even know what our dream job would look like. So take some time to explore your interests. Volunteer. Take career aptitude tests to see what you’re good at. If you put time into learning your interests, strengths, and values, you’re already ahead of a lot of people.

1Career Tests

Volunteering

Books at the Main Library (click to go to our online catalog):

2. Make a 5-year plan.

I know this sounds daunting and even unrealistic. Like, I can’t even decide what to eat for dinner, how can I make a 5-year plan? The thing is:2
A lot of students think that going to college or getting a job is enough – they don’t need to plan for their futures until later. But what will you do when later becomes now? When you plan ahead, you start envisioning your ideal future. And when you set and accomplish goals along the way, your ideal future becomes your reality.

How to make a general 5-year plan

  • WikiHow: Easy steps to get you started.

If you’re going to college

If you’re not going to college (or aren’t sure)

If you’ve graduate from college

Other tips

  • Create a 5-year-plan Pinterest board for visual inspiration.

Books at the Main Library (click to see the book in our online catalog):

3. Get to work on your plan.

After you’ve envisioned where you want to be in the future, you need to get to work on your goals. Below are some websites and books to help you get started on implementing your plan.3
If you’re going to college

If you’re not going to college

If you’ve graduated from college

Whew! That’s a lot of resources.

Figuring out your life’s path and working towards your goals is definitely overwhelming – but if you take time to find out who you are, make a plan, and work hard on it, you can be sure you’re on the right path – your own.

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Posted in Hot Topics, Library Services, Teens

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You’ve All Heard of Limericks, I’m Sure

May 12

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By Lon Maxwell, Reference Department

Limericks can even be done for Math!

You’ve all heard of Limericks, I’m sure
Whether racy or actually pure
They’re funny old rhymes
From good old times
And the good ones are rarely demure

They all start in jolly old Britain
Whose poems were occasionally written
In lyrical styles
To bring forth some smiles
And the poets were instantly smitten

City of Limerick, Ireland

The name, it comes from good green Erin
The Maigue Poets used to declare in
the city, Limerick.
Those bards got a kick
from the poetry style used there in.

The transition to bawdier verse
(Or something ocassionally worse).
The decade was roaring
and not a bit boring,
still, reactions were quite terse.

Original Edward Lear Limerick

There once was a man, name of Lear
Who wrote them, though not very clear
His meanings were nonsense
With ridiculous contents
And his fame stretches from then to here

Some people delight to change form
From the meter and scheme as a norm
They sometimes depart
On whole, a la cart
But can do so in in whatever manner they choose and still leave it mildly humorous

So let us praise the limerick this way
On this, the Limerick’s Day
They bring joy and delight
And the length is just right
Except like now when I’m carried away!

As one last PS I must add
A very hard time I have had
To not use Nantucket
Or mention a bucket
But I know that would really be bad.

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