PSU Magazine Winter 1988

Even parents and teachers of high schoolers contribute to the pressure by urging students to decide what they want to do before they' re really ready. "They are asking kids to be more focused than they need to be," he said . Often students will get focused on, say, becoming a doctor, not because they want to heal the sick but because they know doctors make a lot of money and drive Ferraris. The details of the job aren't visi– ble, only the lifestyle - whether it's real or perceived. A visitor to a counseling center may have fantasies of a "glamor" job, such as a travel agent , until they find out that travel agents spend most of their time on the phone or at a computer ter– minal, worlds away from the exotic places they represent. The people who come into Counseling and Testing Services frequently say they wish they had spent more time foc using on "Who am I" and then fitting that into a career. " I think it's sad (when students decide a career at a young age)," said Mary Cumpston, director of PSU 's Career and Placement Services. PSU 12 PSU Career and Placement Services counselor Tricia Bergman (above) advises a j ob seeking client, while the services' director Mary Cumpston (below left), discusses "S/GY" findings with an alumna. " I think college is a time to relax, sample the various offerings, grow a little bit and not be tracked. When I talk to parents I'm always a little concerned when I hear 'what's the quickest way my child can graduate and major in ... whatever?' " Even clients who haven't decided on a career often ignore this need fo r self discovery when they begin thinking of jobs. The classic case is the person who comes into a counseling office and says, " I want to make $30,000 a year" without assessing what it is going to take to be happy in a job. Career seekers and career changers often put the job's price tag higher on their priority list than any other item. But through counseling they learn that money is just one of many considerations that go into making a career choice. Through the self discovery that comes about with testing and counseling, money often fades in importance in relation to other questions. What kind of people do I want to work with? Do I mind a long commute? Do I want the freedom to set my own hours, control my own projects? Do I want my job to contribute to a better society? "Money is a piece of the puzzle, but it is by no means the whole puzzle," said Tricia Bergman, PSU career counselor. " It's often the fi rst thing thought about , but when a person really takes time to think about what matters most, it comes in fourth or fifth ."