Blog Post 4

My top 10 skills were teamwork, motivate, initiate change, mediate, entertain/perform, counsel, design, visualize, teach/train, and write. Many of these skills are similar in that they involve working with people (e.g. teamwork, motivate, counsel, train, teach). These skills could help translate to majors or careers by letting me know what my strengths are. Also, it helps me confirm that what job or major I choose needs to involve working with people, and making a difference. The skills that I need that I currently lack are managing time and strategizing. I need to learn how to manage my time better by prioritizing the things I want to get done. I also need to strategize better in order to utilize all the talents that I have. I need to plan more instead of just going with the flow all the time. I feel like the major that I choose will definitely allow me to succeed academically. I believe that if I truly enjoy what I am studying, then I know that I will succeed and enjoy going to school. All of my skills I am very interested in pursuing academically, so I think that I will do well. Now, I have chosen my major and am pretty sure of what I want to use that major in as far a a potential career. I am going with Kinesiology with a concentration in exercise science and also starting the pre-physical therapy program. Right now, I want to go to physical therapy school after college.

Blog Post 4

My Myers-Brigs 4 letter personality type was ESFP. This is very similar to my self-ranking except for I ranked perceiving a little big higher than I ranked sensing. Both those aspects were slight in my personality test, so they could have easily been interchangeable. When I react with others, I am more outgoing and speak before I think and enjoy to have multiple relationships. When i process information I am more detail-oriented and sequential, and realistic. When I make decisions I am more sensitive, subjective, fair-hearted, and am more involved. As far as how organized I am, I tend to go with the flow, and am more flexible. I also enjoy spontaneous behaviors. My ideal work environment would be one that involves working with and interacting with different people. I would also prefer a more flexible schedule and have a more realistic approach to my work. I would learn best by trying a new skill with other people. The majors that kept coming up with my personality type were health sciences, education, communication studies, and foreign language. Right now, I have pretty much decided that I am going to major in Kinesiology and minor in Spanish. I plan to do the pre-physical therapy program here at JMU. The major and minor that I chose are very similar to the ones that keep coming up for me during the exercises. I am happy with my decision to declare my major to Kinesiology and pre-physical therapy.

Post 2: Roadtrip Nation

What I liked about Roadtrip Nation was the desire of the people who were going on the trip to find out what they wanted to do. Even though they didn't really know what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives, they all had a passion that they loved, and I believe that everybody does. I believe that if you work hard enough at what you love to do, and you have that burning passion to achieve, then you will. Just like the people in the interviews who were pressured into "the noise" to have a "normal" profession. Also, there were some things that I disliked about the documentary. Even though you might have a passion for something, that doesn't mean that you should throw away thousands of dollars you spent on education to go pursue something that might not work out. I think that it's really important to find something that you could at least fall back on if what you really what to do falls through. The moments that really stuck with me were are the interviews of people who truly followed their dreams and became successful, despite what everyone was telling them. Wanda Sykes said that her parents thought that she was crazy when she pursued a career in comedy, and now she is very successful. Ira Glass's parents wanted him to go to med school, but he kept his options open and that ended up working out for him. I also think that it is really important to take as many classes that aren't in the same subject matter as you possibly can. He didn't restrict himself to one thing and when he broadened his horizons, he found something that he really liked to do. Also, some people have the courage to go out on their own and just discover themselves like Ross Rebagliati did. He really went out on a limb and was going through a lot of stuff and came out of it a successful professional athlete. He was lucky, and unfortunately, not a lot of people are. Pam Garber, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers is a big advocator of persisting in achieving your dream. If you work hard enough, then you will achieve what you want to in life. There has to be passion there for this dream to work out, though. Also, Dr. Linda Li stated that if you change your mind and don't want to do what you were doing anymore, you can always change your mind and do something else. That is always encouraging that you aren't locked into one decision that may cause you to have a miserable job and consequently a miserable life. It is also encouraging that when people choose and find what they truly want to do, the know that that is it. Scott Maceachern stated that what he was doing felt so good, that he knew that that is what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. That makes me think that once I'm doing what I want to do, I will know for sure. The "noise" that I am hearing is coming from peers, parents, and strangers I just meet. They are all asking me what my major is and what I want to do with the rest of my life. I'm not positive about what I want to do yet, but I am starting to figure it out. The "noise" is definitely coming from all angles. I think the main way that I can learn about careers other than the ones I'm aware of now is by just exposing myself to all the classes and opportunities that JMU has to offer. I am definitely going to take a variety of classes just to keep my options open. I don't want to lock myself into one idea that that is what I am going to do. I am going to explore and see what seems most interesting to me before I lock myself into anything that I potentially do not want to do.

Post 1 (A little late, sorry!)

My top 3 interests were social, realistic, and investigative. I expected to see that I like to work with people and help them as well, but I was surprised by enterprising being one of my lowest interests. I like to talk and persuade people, and I also consider myself a leader. I think that having a social interest means that I enjoy being around and helping people. I think that realistic means that I am good at putting things into perspective, and a very tactical person. I don't enjoy sitting behind a desk all day, and like to do hands-on things. I think that investigative means that I enjoy thinking about things, and I like things to be discrete and definite. I like figuring things out as well. The careers and majors that are in all these categories are related to health care, which is along the lines of what I want to do. I want to be a physical therapist, and the major that I recently declared was in all 3 of these interests. Another interest that I can see using in my spare time instead of my job is artistic. I know that I'm not really an artistic person, but I enjoy doing crafts and things. I also feel like this relieves stress as well. So, I might design a room or pain some pictures to fulfill that interest. I have recently declared a major to kinesiology and the pre-physical therapy program. I have pretty much decided that that is what I want to do.

Getting Started

After the first day of class I felt a little overwhelmed with everything. I mean, I think I have an idea about what I want to major in, but I'm still not sure. I'm worried that this is going to make it even harder for me to choose a major after I'm in this class.

Even though there are some worries that I have, this class is helping me to find out more about myself. I am already discovering what my strengths and weaknesses are. This knowledge will hopefully help me decide on a major by the end of the semester so I can start courses for that major.

I am looking forward to all the things that we will be doing in this class. I'm excited to know more about my possible job options and the possible majors I can choose. Even though it may seem overwhelming sometimes, I know that this class will benefit me.