Making Good Choices

Choosing your future

A Rapidly Changing World

It is true that you are preparing for jobs that may not even exist yet. Some of the jobs that exist now may not be there in the future. Growing up in a rapidly changing world has its challenges. We are preparing you for a competitive and highly educated workforce. If current trends continue, 1 in 2 adults will hold a university degree. Flexibility and adaptability will be part of your generation’s lifestyle. Statistically, you will have 17 jobs, 5 careers and 15 homes in your lifetime.

Stepping Stones

The reality is that people find their way through careers via many different twists and turns.

Therefore, when considering future career possibilities, Year 9 and 10 are like the first stepping stones into your future career.

Developing Skill Sets

School is all about developing skill sets that you will use in the future. You will develop soft skills such as working in groups, presenting information to specific audiences, communicating and problem solving that you will use where ever you go and what ever job you go to.

Moreover, the hard skills that you learn in these courses are also of so much benefit. The Geography skills you learn may help you when you become a surveyor. The timber-work skills you develop in your Industrial Technology class may carry you into a future as a builder. The skills you gain in Visual Arts may be invaluable to your future in Architecture. You just never know when the skills you learn in Year 9 and 10 will come in handy.

Choosing Courses

What are my talents and abilities?

You are much more likely to perform well in a subject if you have natural ability in that area.

What are your ideas and plans for the future?

This is where you will need to do some research into University and TAFE courses and their prerequisites.

What motivates or interests you?

What do you enjoy? Again, if you enjoy a subject, you won’t mind the hard work and you will be more engaged in the subject.

Avoid these reasons for choosing courses

Friends

You need to follow your own interests rather than someone else’s. It is good to be in classes with your friends but your main focus should be on the work, not on your friends.

Teachers

The teachers presenting content or currently teaching the course may not actually be the teachers who teach the course next year. Staffing at the College changes regularly and as such you may have a different teacher teaching the course.

The easy option

Be prepared to work as hard as you can in Year 9 and 10. All subjects will have difficult elements and will involve lots of work, even the more practical subjects. If you are choosing a subject because you think it is easy or because you think it will involve less work than you are probably approaching school and your elective choices with the wrong mindset. Be ready to work your hardest in whatever you do and look for subjects that will challenge you and that bring out your best.