<ny Carleton students have had their lives mapped out for a while now. After high school you go to college, and after college you get a job, but not before then. You wouldn’t be the first person to think that a place called the “Career Center” wasn’t something you wanted to think about until school was over. But let’s take a step back. What is a “career” anyway? And what does it mean to you as a student at Carleton?
Do you have your dictionary handy? If you’re like me, just head to good old Dictionary.com and type in “Career”. Odds are, definition #1 probably says something like “an occupation or profession, esp. one requiring special training, followed as one’s lifework.” That’s pretty daunting. Lifework? Special Training? You’re just worried about writing that paper for midterms next week, not starting a job you’ll be doing the rest of your life.
Definition #2 puts a little spin on the term though: “a person’s progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life, as in some profession or undertaking.” Careers aren’t permanent! You don’t have to be thinking about the job you’ll be doing for the rest of your life. We all go through phases and take steps toward larger goals, and the Career Center can help you plan those steps out, from internships to summer jobs to shadowing a professional.
Look a little farther down the list of definitions, and you’ll find that career is a verb to! To career means “to run or move rapidly along; go at full speed.” The Career Center isn’t the end-all be-all of your professional life. More than anything, we can help you get pointed in the right direction, and then give you a running start. Your own momentum and ingenuity will carry you through life, but let us help you get started.
The Career Center is here for you to use now. Why not take advantage of it? You might find your future has a little more definition than it did before.