The College and Career Ready Podcast | empowering students for the careers of tomorrow
Join your host Sonia Cacique on a transformative journey preparing high school and college students for real world careers, equipping them with practical skills, professional experiences, and career guidance.
As a dedicated career guidance counselor, career coach, and education leader, Sonia has spent her entire career empowering the next generation for the future workforce. With her expertise, she helps students develop self-awareness, motivation, and career guidance, building the essential skills needed for success in both their educational and future professional journeys.
Coach Sonia is ready to shift the focus from GPA, class rank, and grades to career connections, self-identity, character development, and real-world skills. She aims to challenge the traditional narratives and provide students with a comprehensive approach to education and career readiness. Changing lives for our next gens, one student at a time.
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The College and Career Ready Podcast | empowering students for the careers of tomorrow
91. How to Determine If You Have Chosen a Career Path That Is Right for You w/ Actionable Steps for Every Student
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"Stay well, be present, and enjoy the journey"
How do you know if the career you are pursuing or the field that you have chosen as a career or degree program, how do you decide if that is the right fit for you? Well, that's what we'll be discussing today. So stay tuned for today's episode. thank you for joining us today, my sweet friend. I am so excited you're here with me today. This is going to be a great topic of conversation, whether you are a high school student, a college student, or even a recent graduate. This question comes quite often, and I think it's important for us to dive into this conversation. And that is, how to decide if you have selected the correct major or career that is most aligned with you and who you authentically are. If you have the slightest doubt if you have selected the correct major or career, then this episode is for you. But before we get started, I want to celebrate with you, my friend, because We are, all right, listen, listen for this. We are 10 episodes away from episode number 100. Oh my goodness. I just, I really can't believe it. We are so close to our 100th episode and I want to say thank you. Thanks to you, every single one of you that have tuned in to the college and career ready podcast, whether this is your first episode or your 90th episode or 91st, I guess in this case, 91st episode, I want to say thank you for coming along this journey with me. We have been on a roller coaster ride. With so many learning opportunities that we have had together with guests, solo episodes, a little shifts that we've made here and there, but we are still together and we are so close to reaching the 100th episode. So for that, I am beyond grateful to each and every one of you. I'm also going to pat myself on the back because I cannot believe that I am so close to the 100th episode. And honestly. This is not anything I even had on my mind on the first episode. Like I'm going to reach a hundred episodes. That was not on my mind. On my mind was like, I'm going to start this podcast. I'm going to be talking to parents and students and educators. And I'm going to be sharing all sorts of topics of conversation that are interesting and relevant and important. But I never had a number in mind. I was like, I am just going to go with it. Right. And that's what I did because. That's what I tell you to do as well. Just go with the flow. And as the years have progressed, well, you know, year one, and now we're soon to get to year two, also celebrating a two year mark. I just stopped to realize like, we are so close to the 100th episode. So that is something to celebrate. And I'm definitely patting myself on the back and also applauding. Each and every one of you to be part of this journey. And you know, what would be even more wonderful would be each and every one of you to invite someone to be a listener, to invite them, to listen to an episode that you feel would be relevant to them, that they could connect with and that they might actually need in a moment. So as a little thank you to all of us, it would be wonderful. It would be amazing. And I'd be so grateful if you would share this podcast. or a podcast episode with a dear friend, community member, a classmate, someone in your student group, another educator, someone in your life or someone that you are connected to that you feel this podcast would be relevant and important to them. So what has this podcast done for me? It has proven that we all need to continue growing, that I was determined that there are a lot of challenges, sometimes even setbacks, but most importantly, that I enjoyed the experience, that this was a new experience. I tried something new that I didn't even know where to start. And, you know, maybe, maybe we'll have an episode about that. At some point or how this podcast even started, but it has been an amazing learning experience in the connections I have made through this experience has been beyond rewarding. So thank you so much again to each and every one of you. All right. So last week I spoke on the importance of building connections and why connections might matter. More than grades. That was episode number 90. So check it out If you haven't listened to it go to the show notes and click on the episode number 90 But as I was discussing last week on this topic I kept thinking that it was important for me to make sure I spoke about This particular topic that we're going to talk about today Which is making sure that the degree program you have selected so far right if you're a high school student is one that you are most interested in and most aligned with who you are. If you're already in college, then this will be an episode to reaffirm if you are in the right career path, or if you might need to sit back and, you know, question that a little bit further, or if you've already graduated, then it will also help you figure out, Hmm, is this the right choice? Where am I going? So it'll give you an opportunity to reflect on that. All right. And so this will be an episode that will benefit all three groups, whether you're in high school, already in college or recent graduates. So I'll be helping you answer this question. Now, if you're listening in real time, the summer connection scores, a five week self paced online course with weekly live group sessions is in session right now as we speak. And it's a great course that I am running with a group of students all from the comfort of their own home. But that also has reaffirmed every single topic that I'm going to have from here on out, the importance and necessity of us having this conversation. And this particular topic is one that kept coming up and students kept saying, I wish I would have had this course much earlier in my life. We are actually, we just had our third, Live session and it's a five life group session. So we are more than halfway through the course and it's been an amazing and a great learning experience for my students and for myself. By the way, this course is already closed. We do not allow any other students in because it's a cohort style class. However, it will be opening back up in the fall. So if you're interested, if you're slightly interested or even curious about this course, I would advise that you join the wait list. For free. All you have to do is go to collegecareerready. org forward slash course and you can read about the course and you can add yourself to the waitlist. So when the course is launched in the fall, then you are alerted. You are the first one to know that it has been released and open for registration. So again, go to collegecareerready. org forward slash course. Alright, so first, I am curious. Alright, let's get right into the conversation. How did you select your degree program? Certification or career or field of interest? It doesn't matter what stage you are. Whether you're a high school student, a college student, or a recent graduate. I want you to just sit with that question for a minute. How did you select your degree program? Now for me, my first career choice or career field of interest was to become a certified pharmacy technician. Actually, if we're really frank and honest, it was to be a registered nurse and that didn't quite plan out the way I had intended. So the second time that I started considering a career or field of interest, Was when I decided I was not going to be going into the two year registered nurse degree program I realized that I was not going to be attending the two year Registered nurse program at my local community college. I was scrambling And it was literally scrambling to find a backup like what am I going to do now? I decided that I was not going to start the program after all, after already being accepted into the program. So how did I select certified pharmacy admission? Well, here you go. Here's my story. I panicked. I opened the catalog at San Jacinto college, which is our community college here in Houston, Texas. And I opened the catalog and started flipping through the pages and I wanted a short pathway, a short course, a certification. I was at this point, I was frustrated. I did not want to do anything longer than a certification that was quick and that would get me basically earning income. So I did that and I saw, um, I saw an advertisement that San Jack was going to offer their first certified pharmacy technician program. It was a, um, a certification program and I was like, Oh, okay. Working at a pharmacy. That sounds interesting. I have a lot of science courses because remember I had taken a lot of pre reqs Gearing towards the registered nurse pathway. So I had a lot of science. I was like, okay, this sounds fun This sounds interesting and I signed up. Never had I talked to a pharmacy technician Never had I even explored that career before I came home and I was like mom dad I'm going to be a certified pharmacy technician and I did That's how I made my choice as far as my first career. Truth be told that is how I did it. And so Um, yeah, I enrolled into the program. It was the first year that they were offering the program As a matter of fact, I'll have to post this on my linkedin Account and maybe even my instagram. I'll keep you posted on that But I will definitely post it in one of my social medias where I was on the front catalog of the San Jacinto continuing education course catalog. And there I was with the first class of certified pharmacy technicians. Okay. So I want you to explore this question now, right? That was a long answer to a short question, but I want you to explore that yourself. Okay. So I want you to ask yourself. How did you select this degree program or certification or, um, career field of interest? Did you meet someone in the field? Did you do online research? Uh, did you explore various career options by doing internships or shadowing experiences? Maybe you did an information session call or did your teacher, your best friend, your counselor, or your parents said you would be perfect for this career. And that's how you selected your career. degree program or career? Or did you hear someone say, all right, listen to this, or did you hear someone say, Sue Smith has a daughter and she is making a lot of money and you should probably consider this degree program or this career? So sit on that. How did you select your degree program or career or field of interest? I want you to just think about that for a little bit. I want you to ask yourself this question and I want you to write it down because when we write it down, it also allows us for more personal reflection. And I'm a strong believer that in writing things down because it creates an opportunity for a brain dump, right? To be completely frank and honest with yourself. Don't worry. You can tear it up afterwards. If you don't want people reading your personal stuff, you can tear it up. You can burn it up, whatever you want, but write this down. Like, how did you make that choice? Okay. So let's say you were persuaded by someone, right? And, or you came up on your own with this decision. Okay. It doesn't matter if you were persuaded or if you came up with it on your own. Now I want you to do part B or part two of this experience. Now I want you to ask yourself, why did you pick that career? Now you might think, all right, Sonia, you just asked me that question, but no, I want you to explore your why even further. Continue asking yourself, why be as specific in as detailed as you can with your answer, give examples or give a story that you heard or what you vision. Like, I want you to be very, very specific, right? As much information as you can and keep questioning yourself why. All right. Go as deep as you can on this question. So let's say, all right, let's say you get down to the question of money because they make more money. All right. Keep asking yourself, why would you want to make more money? All right. What motivates you? What would you do with that money? What inspires you? Ask yourself if you had money, um, let's say you would. donated. Okay. What charity would you donate it? What would you want to spend that money on? If you say you want to travel, okay, where do you want to travel to? I want you to keep asking further and further as clear as you can, as granular as you can on this question. All right. Okay. Once you have written all of this down, I want you to go back and read your answers and just reflect on it, sit on it and see how this feels. Okay, because this will be proof for you why you decided what career to pursue and why. Explore if you could see yourself doing this career every single day, like eight to nine hours a day. Do you see yourself doing the tasks, the daily responsibilities, the ups and the downs of that career every single day? Do you even know what a typical day looks like in that field? Right? Have you met someone already in the field? I want you to further explore this as well because these are questions that are important for you to realize if this is a good career fit for you. In my Career Connections course, this is something that we do together. We explore these questions together even further you. In our submission of our work. So my students submit work to me that I personally read line item by line item and provide feedback to them. So even though it's groups coaching, it's almost like you're also getting one on one coaching as well, because I will respond to your lesson responses that you provide to me. And then we also go over this in our group sessions together. And I have seen when students are sharing personal stories about this or their reflections, I can even see how. Other students are like nodding like, Oh yeah, I get that. Or I feel that too. And it's so valuable to have this connection time in a group setting. Again, if you're interested in joining our next cohort of the career connections course in the fall, make sure you go to the website collegecareerready. org forward slash course and add yourself to the wait list. It's super, super simple. And then that way you're alerted when that course is released. But in essence, it is important to write and talk these things out, which is why I love the cohort style and the course that I offer. But you can do part of this on your own with some of these steps that I have outlined today. Ask yourself, how does this feel? How does writing this out feel to you? Was this motivating? Was this encouraging? Did you feel exhausted? Are you questioning yourself? This is how you will know, trust me, your gut feeling will tell you if this feels aligned or if this does not feel aligned, alright? You are going to spend too much time pursuing a career that if you're not driven towards, that you're not inspired, you're going to make the wrong choice, and it's going to feel wrong, and then you're going to graduate, and you're going to feel like, I have done enough. spent four years, maybe eight years, depending on, you know, the career of choice in college, pursuing a degree that just does not feel aligned. Right. And what I want for you, for every single one of my students is I want you to pursue a career that you're in love with, that you're inspired by, that you're motivated by. Okay. I want you to also enjoy life. The journey. So if you're going to be in college for four years, I want you to enjoy the journey. I want you to be motivated about, you know, the classes, especially those that are in within your degree program. I want you to be inspired. Was this helpful, my friend? I hope this was, if you have any questions, you can always connect with me. Send me an email at info at college career ready. org. You can follow me on LinkedIn, or you can send me a DM on Instagram. So I am not active on Instagram. Um posting however, I do check my dm So if you want to send me a dm on instagram, you're more than welcome to as well All the links to my social platforms are on the show notes So make sure you check it out and next week. I am going to have a special guest Listen, if you are a high school student or even a college student then this next episode It's going to be really good for you because I am going to be having a special guest that will help you decide Which college is the right school? fit for you. So this is, this is her passion. This is what she likes talking about. She will explore with you college options and how to find the best fit for you. If you know of any high school student, any grade level, please tell them to follow and subscribe to the college and career ready podcast because next week's episode is going to be essential for them. We will dive into a great conversation about how to select the right college, the right fit for you, because guess what? Not all colleges are fit for everybody. If that was the case, everybody would apply to only one college. There is many different opportunities in different colleges, and I want you to explore that with us together in next week's conversation. So make sure that you tune in next week. Again, I'll Follow and subscribe to the college and career ready podcast and send a link to this podcast to your friends and to your community, especially high school friends. If you're a college student and you have, um, family or friends that are still in high school, Send them the link to the podcast because this episode is going to be a really good episode. All right, my sweet friend, I love talking to you today. And again, connect with me, um, send me an email, connect with me on social media, and let's dive into some many more great conversations and topics. All right, until next week, stay well, be present and enjoy the journey. Adios.
