Daily Archives: May 12, 2017
Resources for High School and College Grads
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.
Career Tests
- O*Net Career Exploration and MyNextMove.org: O*Net is a wonderful, free resource for all things career.
- Sokanu: Find your ideal career.
- CollegeDegrees.com: Free aptitude tests for college grads.
- Accuconference.com: A huge list of interest, aptitude/skill, and personality tests.
- YourFreeCareerTest: Free 3-minute test, no registration required.
Volunteering
- Volunteer.gov and tips for volunteering.
- RileyGuide.com: Information on internships, apprenticeships, and volunteering resources.
- VolunteerMatch.org: Find local volunteer opportunities based on your interests.
- Volunteer databases and more on TeenLife.com.
- GoAbroad.com: For those interested in studying, volunteering, or interning abroad.
Books at the Main Library (click to go to our online catalog):
- Do what you are: discover the perfect career for you through the secrets of personality type by Paul D. Tieger
- What color is your parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles
- What color is your parachute? For teens : discover yourself, design your future by Carol Christen
- Springboard : launching your personal search for success by G. Richard Shell
- You majored in what? : mapping your path from chaos to career by Katharine Brooks
- Do what you love, the money will follow : discovering your right livelihood by Marsha Sinetar
- The ultimate guide to internships : 100 steps to get a great internship and thrive in it by Eric Woodard
- 50 best jobs for your personality by Michael Farr
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:
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
- “High School Seniors: Preparing for Your Next Step After High School”: An article with lots of resources by former college professor Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
- Big Future: Map out a step-by-step roadmap to college.
- Big Future for Majors: Find majors based on your interests.
- Mapping Your Future: Free entrance and exit counseling, preparing for college, financial aid, and more.
- MyPlan.com for Majors: Helps you answer the question “What can I do with a major in…?”
If you’re not going to college (or aren’t sure)
- “Next Step After High School? Some Alternatives to College”: An article by former college professor Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
If you’ve graduate from college
- “So You’ve Graduated College… What’s Next for You? Eight Critical Issues Facing New Grads”: An article with lots of additional resources by former college professor Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
- “Developing a Strategic Vision for Your Career Plan”: Yet another great article by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
- Life after College: Article collection from Huffington Post.
- College students face a tough choice: An opinion about graduate school.
- Reasons to Wait: Questions to consider before pursuing graduate school.
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):
- Higher education : on life, employment, fulfillment, and everything else they didn’t teach you in college by Kenneth Jedding
- Job U : how to find wealth and success by developing the skills companies actually need by Nicholas Wyman
- Choices for the high school graduate : a survival guide for the information age by Bryna J. Fireside
- Top 100 careers without a four-year degree : your complete guidebook to good jobs in many fields by Laurence Shatkin
- Better than before : mastering the habits of our everyday lives by Gretchen Rubin
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.
If you’re going to college
- The National Association of College Admissions Counselors : A great place to start. Includes financial planning resources.
- Pre-college to do list: About.com
- How to Compare Financial Aid Offers and What Different Types of Aid Mean: AcceptedToCollege.com.
- Financial Planning: for college students from 360FinancialLiteracy.org.
- How to pay for college from FastWeb.com.
- Scholarship Search: BigFuture.org.
- Budgeting for College Students.
- The Best Budgeting Calculators for College Students: Mint.com.
- Learning Express Library: Centers include Adult Learning, Careers, High School Equivalency, College Preparation, College Center, School Center, Computer Skills and more. Create account while visiting the library or call (615) 595-1243 to have a librarian set up an account for you.
If you’re not going to college
- High School Resume Examples and Writing Tips: About.com Careers.
- The Resume Workbook for High School Students: A bit old (from 2001), but has a great fill-in-the-blank layout to get you started, plus other tips.
- Career Transitions: A library database – Write a resume, cover letter, tips and advice, interview simulations. Login = library account number.
- High School Financial Planning Program: Free online courses for personal finance skills.
- Financial Literacy for High School Students: Lesson plans for teachers and students covering life skills, consumer awareness, and financial management. Includes free worksheets.
- MyFirstApartment.com: An entire website dedicated to first apartments.
- Internet Sites for Career Planning: A long list compiled by the National Career Development Association.
- Learning Express Library: Centers include Adult Learning, Careers, High School Equivalency, College Preparation, College Center, School Center, Computer Skills and more. Create account while visiting the library or call (615) 595-1243 to have a librarian set up an account for you.
If you’ve graduated from college
- 50 Resources for College Graduates: Life after college blog.
- The Best Budgeting Calculators for College Students (and beyond) from Mint.com
- MyFirstApartment.com: An entire website dedicated to first apartments.
- AfterCollege.com: Explore careers based on your college major.
- Resume Writing for the Recent College Graduate: A step-by-step PowerPoint presentation from Rollins College.
- Career Transitions: A library database – Write a resume, cover letter, tips and advice, interview simulations. Login = library account number.
- Learning Express Library: Centers include Adult Learning, Careers, High School Equivalency, College Preparation, College Center, School Center, Computer Skills and more. Create account while visiting the library or call (615) 595-1243 to have a librarian set up an account for you.
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.
You’ve All Heard of Limericks, I’m Sure
By Lon Maxwell, Reference Department
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.
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.