|
Exploring Careers and College Majors Through Academic Summer
Camps
We learn by example and by direct experience because there
are real limits to the adequacy of verbal instruction. - Malcolm
Gladwell in his book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without
Thinking
How many of you learn better when you get to try something,
to actually engage in creating or developing something? One
of the best strategies to support student readiness for determining
a college major and career path is the opportunity to experience
or try out different options. Along with informational
interviewing and job shadowing, academic summer camps
offer students hands-on exposure to different careers and
the college majors that support them.
How does this strategy work? For example, if a student identifies
engineering as a major, how might he or she explore over 25
different types of engineering? Some of our families have
enrolled in the Milwaukee
School of Engineering summer program to begin to understand
what is different about the curricular and career requirements
for a variety of engineering paths.
Many colleges and universities now offer academic summer
programs for high school students. These programs are similar
to the enrichment activities parents provide for children
in their early years - like visits to the children's zoo,
museums or field trips. For parents, the benefits of these
programs include the knowledge that students are going to
be better prepared for college decisions and courses and gain
insight into residence hall life. They also protect their
college tuition investment by supporting college major decision-making
as early as possible.
Students benefit in four ways:
1. Residential experience on a college campus helps
make the next step on the educational path more real.
2. Academic and experience-based learning focused
on one or more career paths or college majors that are of
interest leads to better quality and more informed decisions.
3. A supportive environment that enables a teen to
socially engage with other students seeking career direction
creates readiness and exerts a positive peer influence.
4. Increased confidence comes with exposure and practice.
Simulating possible next steps motivates students to set
- and work toward - realistic goals.
Parents find that they can be more intentional and efficient
in their search for a career summer camp if they first clarify
what they want a program to achieve for their teen. We offer
several website resources below that list a variety of academic
or career-themed camps. Career Vision cannot endorse any programs
in particular and encourages parents to check references.
For additional suggestions for summer career exploration resources,
see:
Factory
Tours Make Career Exploration Easy
Local
Museums Invite Career Exploration
© Copyright 2009, Career Vision. Article may be reprinted
with permission.
Direction.
Decisions. Satisfaction.
|
