Get Some Direction

It's easy to get lost when you don't have a good idea of where you want to go. This is especially true when you start thinking about what to do with the rest of your life. Unless you focus on where you want to go, you might get lost or even miss the exit. This exercise will help you connect your own interests and abilities with a whole world of career opportunities.

Mark the activities that you enjoy doing or would enjoy doing if you had the chance. Be picky. Don't mark ideas that you wish you would do, mark only those that you would really do. For instance, if the idea of skydiving sounds appealing, but you'd never do it because you are terrified of heights, don't mark it.

1. Rescue a cat stuck in a tree
2. Visit the pet store every time you go to the mall
3. Paint a mural on the cafeteria wall
4. Send e-mail to a "pen pal" in another state
5. Survey your classmates to find out what they do after school
6. Run for student council
7. Try out for the school play
8. Dissect a frog and identify the different organs
9. Play baseball, soccer, football or ________ (fill in your favorite sport)
10. Talk on the phone to just about anyone who will talk back
11. Try foods from all over the world-Thailand, Poland, Japan, etc.
12. Write poems about things that are happening in your life
13. Create a really scary haunted house to take your friends through on Halloween
14. Recycle all the family's trash
15. Bake a cake and decorate it for your best friend's birthday
16. Simulate an imaginary flight through space on your computer screen
17. Build model airplanes, boats, doll houses, or anything from kits
18. Sell enough advertisements for the school yearbook to win a trip to Walt Disney World
19. Teach your friends a new dance routine
20. Watch the stars come out at night and see how many constellations you can find
21. Watch baseball, soccer, football or ________ (fill in your favorite sport) on TV
22. Give a speech in front of the entire school
23. Plan the class field trip to Washington, D.C.
24. Read everything in sight, including the back of the cereal box
25. Figure out "who dunnit" in a mystery story
26. Take in stray or hurt animals
27. Make a poster announcing the school football game
28. Put together a multimedia show for a school assembly using music and lots of pictures and graphics
29. Think up a new way to make the lunch line move faster and explain it to the cafeteria staff
30. Invest your allowance in the stock market and keep track of how it does
31. Go to the ballet or opera every time you get the chance
32. Do experiments with a chemistry set
33. Keep score at your sister's Little League games
34. Use lots of funny voices when reading stories to children
35. Ride on airplanes, trains, boats--anything that moves
36. Interview the new exchange student for an article in the school newspaper
37. Build your own treehouse
38. Help clean up a waste site in your neighborhood
39. Visit an art museum and pick out your favorite painting
40. Make a chart on the computer to show how much soda students buy from the school vending machines each week
41. Keep track of how much your team earns to buy new uniforms
42. Play Monopoly in an all-night championship challenge
43. Play an instrument in the school band or orchestra
44. Put together a 1,000-piece puzzle
45. Write stories about sports for the school newspaper
46. Listen to other people talk about their problems
47. Imagine yourself in exotic places
48. Hang around bookstores and libraries
49. Play harmless practical jokes on April Fools' Day
50. Join the 4-H club at your school
51. Take photographs at the school talent show
52. Create an imaginary city using a computer
53. Do 3-D puzzles
54. Make money by setting up your own business--paper route, lemonade stand, etc.
55. Keep track of the top 10 songs of the week
56. Train your dog to do tricks
57. Make play-by-play announcements at the school football game
58. Answer the phones during a telethon to raise money for orphans
59. Be an exchange student in another country
60. Write down all your secret thoughts and favorite sayings in a journal
61. Jump out of an airplane (with a parachute, of course)
62. Plant and grow a garden in your backyard (or windowsill)
63. Use a video camera to make your own movies
64. Spend your summer at a computer camp learning lots of new computer programs
65. Build bridges, skyscrapers, and other structures out of LEGOs
66. Get your friends together to help clean up your town after a hurricane
67. Plan a concert in the park for little kids
68. Collect different kinds of rocks
69. Help plan a sports tournament
70. Be DJ for the school dance
71. Learn how to fly a plane or sail a boat
72. Write funny captions for pictures in the school yearbook
73. Scuba dive to search for buried treasure
74. Recognize and name several different breeds of dogs, and other animals
75. Sketch pictures of your friends
76. Answer your classmates' questions about how to use the computer
77. Draw a map showing how to get to your house from school
78. Pick out neat stuff to sell at the school store
79. Make up new words to your favorite songs
80. Take a hike and name the different kinds of trees, birds, or flowers
81. Referee intramural basketball games
82. Join the school debate team
83. Make a poster with postcards from all the places you went on your summer vacation
84. Write down stories that your grandparents tell you about when they were young

CALCULATE THE CLUES
Now is your chance to add it all up. Each of the 12 boxes on these pages contains an interest area that is common to both your world and the world of work. Follow these directions to discover your personal Skill Set:

Find all of the numbers that you checked on pages 9-13 in the boxes below and X them. Work your way all the way through number 84.
Go back and count the Xs marked for each interest area. Write that number in the space that says "total."
Find the interest area with the highest total and put a number one in the "Rank" blank of that box. Repeat this process for the next two highest scoring areas. Rank the second highest as number two and the third highest as number three.
If you have more than three strong areas, choose the three that are most important and interesting to you.

ADVENTURE 1 13 25 37 49 61 73 Total: ___ Rank: ___	ANIMALS &NATURE 2 14 26 38 50 62 74 Total: ___ Rank: ___	ART 3 15 27 39 51 63 75 Total: ___ Rank: ___
COMPUTERS 4 16 28 40 52 64 76 Total: ___ Rank: ___	MATH 5 17 29 41 53 65 77 Total: ___ Rank: ___	MONEY 6 18 30 42 54 66 78 Total: ___ Rank: ___
MUSIC/DANCE 7 19 31 43 55 67 79 Total: ___ Rank: ___	SCIENCE 8 20 32 44 56 68 80 Total: ___ Rank: ___	SPORTS 9 21 33 45 57 69 81 Total: ___ Rank: ___
TALKING 10 22 34 46 58 70 82 Total: ___ Rank: ___	TRAVEL 11 23 35 47 59 71 83 Total: ___ Rank: ___	WRITING 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 Total: ___ Rank: ___

What are your top three interest areas? List them here (or on a separate piece of paper).

This is your personal skill set and provides important clues about the kinds of work you're most likely to enjoy. Remember it and look for career ideas with a skill set that matches yours most closely.