Aligning Your Sense of Purpose and Your Career
15
As the information in Figure 1.2 indicates, receiving a college degree will improve your earning potential.
FIGURE 1.2 Education Pays Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2012.
Here are some additional questions to ask yourself as you continue to think about why you’re at this particular college or university:
YOUR TURN
Work Together
Write five reasons you decided to go to college at this time in your life. Share what you wrote with a classmate and see how many of your reasons are the same or different.
- Am I here to find out who I am and to study a subject that I am truly passionate about, regardless of whether it leads to a career?
- Am I here to engage in an academic program that provides an array of possibilities when I graduate?
- Am I here to prepare myself for a graduate program or for immediate employment?
- Am I here to obtain specific training in a field that I am committed to?
- Am I here to gain specific skills for a job I already have?
Use the information in Figure 1.2 as motivation for making the most of college. The more education you have, the more likely you are to be employed and the higher your earnings will be.