Curricular Competency Reflection:
The careers I chose were aerospace engineer and corporate lawyer, because I like science and debating/negotiating with people. When we started this project I knew one of my careers had to be science based. I have been good at math and science for as long as I can remember, and I find it interesting. After doing some research I thought that aerospace engineering was cool, because it involved hands on work and physics. My second career was corporate law, and it attracted me for a few reasons. I initially thought of researching law for a job, because I enjoyed the TV series suits (a lawyer drama show). I also enjoy debating and rebutting with people based off of evidence. I did lots of public speaking throughout elementary school and middle school, so I thought it’d be a good fit.
What were the takeaways for you after doing the research for 2 careers? If someone were to ask you, what would it be like to be a ___ what would you say?
Doing research on aerospace engineers and corporate lawyers has been very eye opening, because I got to really learn what a day at work would look like.
Aerospace Engineer:
Being an aerospace engineer seems like a pretty cool and maybe even easy job at first glance, but it is not like that at all. To be an aerospace engineer, you need to be extremely skilled at what you do. Making one small error in your calculations is the difference between a plane flying or not. My cousin whom I interviewed creates wings for planes, and he says that it is very stressful making sure everything is absolutely perfect. If a company spends thousands of dollars on materials for a project, but it ends up failing due to errors in calculations, imagine how stressful that would be. Being an aerospace engineer is a mentally demanding job, however seeing your creations at the end is worth it. Pouring time and energy into creating something that can benefit millions of people (planes or satellites) gives a rewarding feeling. I took away that aerospace engineering is a fulfilling job if done correctly, however meeting deadlines and working with a small margin for error can make your life stressful.
Corporate Lawyer:
When I first started to research corporate law, I thought it would be just like the TV series – Suits. Although, I learned that the reality of being a lawyer is different than what you see on TV. Let me start by saying I think I would enjoy law, because I love arguing, debating, and negotiating with other people. I also like the high-income potential side of the job, where there is always opportunity for improvement. A real day in the life of a lawyer, however, is not all sunshine and rainbows. Corporate law is high stakes, long hours, and competitive. If you are trying to swindle someone with a contract that benefits your client, you best believe they are doing the same to you. Clients won’t just come to you, and you have to prove your worth if you want to get hired. As an established lawyer, life is a bit easier, because you have a reputation and people may want to come to you. However, if you are new to law, you need to prove yourself and show your worth through hard work. Law is no easy task, and it is very deceptive. Often there are loopholes to laws that you never knew about, and it can make being a lawyer very stressful. Although this is the case, when you win, you win big. Landing a huge client may be one of the best feelings you can achieve in any workplace anywhere (according to my interviewee). The work is long, but the reward is sweet, and it balances out. Every win is memorable, and being a lawyer can feel great after a win. I took away from my research that being a lawyer isn’t all fun and games. It’s serious, deep work, that only when finished will feel like it was all worth it. There are definitely lots of highs and lows in corporate law, but the wins really do make up for the long work weeks. Overall, I think being a corporate lawyer is interesting, and like aerospace engineering, is a career to think about pursuing.
What education programs are you most interested in right now and think you might want to pursue?
I don’t yet know the exact field I’d want to pursue after high school; however, I am fairly certain I do want to go to university. I plan on applying to all the prestigious Canadian schools (UBC, McGill, UofT, Waterloo), but I do not know for what program I’d be applying to. Researching engineering was cool, but I am still unsure about it. Researching law was also interesting, especially because I watch lawyer TV shows, but I think the ethical dilemmas pushed me away. I am a very strong-willed person and have an over looming sense of justice. So, if I was forced to do something I didn’t believe in I would be very upset. Going into any sort of science program at these universities is always an option as well, because science and math are my strongest subjects (and I like them). Although I don’t know for sure what I want to do, I at least know I do not want to go into anything biology related. I strongly dislike biology.
How ready are you to start this journey? What do you have to do to be ready and make these decisions? How can you prepare yourself for what lies ahead?
If I had to go to university and get prepared to work tomorrow, I would not be ready. After completing this project, I can now see there is so much more that goes into choosing a career than just picking something you like. I believe I am a very smart and disciplined person who will be able to pour everything I have into pursuing a career I like. The problem is, however, that I do not know at all what type of job I want to pursue. Even after doing this project, I still do not know.
Some things I can do to ready myself to make these decisions would be to conduct more in-depth research about various fields. I also think I should ask myself some questions that will lead me to find what I am passionate about. As it stands, I enjoy every school subject, and I excel in each subject as well. To narrow down what I want to do, I should ask myself things like, “If money were no object, what would I do to fill my time?” I still don’t know the answer to this question, but finding the answer is definitely a step in the right direction. In the case of researching a wider variety of jobs, I think I will use MYBLUEPRINT on my own time. MYBLUEPRINT has a superb catalog of jobs to look at, so maybe I’ll be able to find more that stick out.
To prepare myself for the journey to come, I should continue working hard inside and outside of school and start working a part-time job. I am very focused when it comes to school and sports, and I think that continuing my eagerness to perform in both will be a great asset to me in the future. One thing I can implement in spite of that is working part-time. If I work a part-time job I will be exposed to the real world of working. I can also look up to my co-workers or boss for career advice on what to do after high school. I think more exposure to money and the “real world” will be beneficial to my journey ahead.
Core Competency Reflection:
I used to think being a lawyer was all about strong arming people and making bold decisions, but now I know that is not the case. As I said previously, I researched law because I watched a lawyer drama TV series. Because my background knowledge came from TV I thought there was much more drama in law than there actually is. After this project I have seen that law involves lots of paper work, long hours, and basic cases.
Examples of where I communicate clearly and purposefully can be seen in my presentation. When I presented my careers project I tried to leave out any unnecessary information to make the presentation go faster. I understand the kids in the class don’t want to listen to someone speak about meaningless information for 10 minutes, so I said my main points and glossed over the extra info.
Evidence that I can acquire information about complex and specialized topics from various sources, synthesize it, and present it with thoughtful analysis can be found in my careers project. I used many different, unique, sources to cultivate my project. I used MYBLUEPRINT, WORKBC, and interviewed two of my cousins who worked the same jobs I was researching.