Bellows Falls High School - Sampler Yearbook (Bellows Falls, VT)

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24 THE SAMPLER profit can be obtained from a might-be very successful career? Last, but by far not the least, he should make an accurate list of the requisites lor entering his preferred career. This should be considered early in life, so that he may start preparing for his life work, even while he is in high school. He must learn whether or not a college education is necessary or desirable, and if any special training must be obtained. If special training is required he must find out where he can get it, how long it will take, and how much it will cost him. If an apprentice- ship period must be served first, he must figure on this also. Thus, it is very clear that the process of choosing an occupation is not one of accident or chance, but is the result of years of careful thought and planning and study. Kathryn Kelley. SELF-ANALYSIS Self-analysis is one of the major steps one must take if he is trying to choose intelligently a suitable career for himself. Self-analysis is very difficult since there is no definite method for a person to follow when analyzing himself. It is easy enough to measure one’s height and weight but to measure our artistic or me- chanical talents, our perserverance, accuracy, and ability to co-operate with others is a dif- ferent matter. One can not, however, put himself into the right career by guessing. Years ago when a child was born, sometimes a Bible, a coin, and a bottle were placed before him. If he chose the Bible, people said he was destined to be a minister, if he reached for the coin, a banker, and if he reached for the bottle, of course, a failure. There are many false and unscientific ways of guessing what your future is to be; such as counting the buttons on your coat or calculating the stars and planets under which you were born. Some psychologists think that tests may he of some value in self- analysis. There are tests that may help a person to detect color blindness and others which show certain qualities necessary in some occupation such as aviation, but there are no tests to show a person just what line of work he is best suited for. Tests can only indicate aptitudes or leanings that a person may have for and toward certain occupations or pro- fessions. Tests are just one of the many methods one can use in this process of trying to find himself. There is one mental trait, however, that can be measured objectively. This is general in- telligence. By this is meant the keenness. brightness, and mental alertness that one is born with. People differ greatly according to this trait. Although a low rate of intelligence is not a handicap in some occupations it is a great barrier in other lines of work. There- fore, when making such an important decision as that of selecting a career it is first best to measure our intelligence. Various intelligence tests are given in school which should be made out by reputable scientists. It is advisable for a person to examine his educational record when he is trying to find his ability along various lines. Not only colleges and technical schools but also large corpora- tions such as American Telephone and Tele- graph lay great stress on scholastic standing when they are considering a person for entrance or an applicant for employment. One should single out the subjects lie liked and made progress in in school. For example, if a person enjoys chemistry and dislikes farming he should not be a farmer just because his father or uncle is a farmer. If engineering is being considered a person should like mathematics and have rated well in school in that subject. While in school one possibly has become especially interested in languages, history, home economics, or algebra. Each of these subjects suggests a career and perhaps, one to which he might be adapted. A person should a'so be physically able to handle the duties of the occupation which he chooses. A young man who desires to be an architect and yet has weak lungs would not be able to spend the greater part of his time over a drafting board. He should seek another occupation such as that of the landscape architect which will afford him an opportunity to use his artistic talent along architectural lines but at the same time keep him in the open air. It is not enough to examine merely one’s intellectual, educational, and physical apti- tudes for a vocation. If a person is trying to choose intelligently a suitable career for him- self other factors—social and economic—are involved. The social factor is that which among other things shows whether or not a person likes meeting and mingling with the general public. For instance, a person who dislikes associating with people would have a very difficult time as a teacher, doctor, and especially a salesman. Instead he should try to choose occupations that do not require him to deal so constantly with people. By the economic factor we mean that which has to do with the financial side of preparation and entering into any occupation. A young man wishing to become a lawyer should be

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THE S A M PLER 23 intensively as one would study a period in American History, or any other school course, endeavoring to learn about the kind of work done, and the people who do it. Information should be secured from dependable books and other literature, and advice from vocational counsellors. If possible, he should enter some new voca- tion which needs supporters. Society cannot support too many people in any one vocation and a career in an overcrowded field should be avoided as much as possible. A person should not say that he is going to be this or that without first considering the time, expense, and hard work that he will have to put into it. Many young men and women do this without thinking, and are bound to be disappointed. For instance, a young man may say he is going to be a doctor. He gets half way through college, and then finds out he has not money enough to finish his education, or that his health cannot endure the very hard work that this vocation requires. Such choices are made, because most young men and women know of only a small number of vocations and make their choices from these few. If they knew of the great number of interesting vocations that exist, many of them would not be disappointed and would lead a much happier and more profitable life. It has- been found out that the average boy wants to be either a dentist, a lawyer, a doctor, or an en- gineer. These occupations would be too over- crowded if each of these boys succeeded. They choose from this limited list, because they do not know of the other vocations, or try to find out. They do not know that there are hundreds of vocations that are not over- crowded, and perhaps are more interesting to them. Some of these vocations are: apiarist, tree surgeon, aerial photographer, bacteriolog- ist. credit investigator and assayer. Young women, too, do not know of the many unknown vocations that exist. Seventy-five per cent of the high school girls of today want to be secretaries, school teachers, nurses, or stenographers. Some interesting careers that are very seldom chosen by young women are: illustrator, post mistresss, interior decorator, taxidermist, court stenographer, credit in- vestigator, photographer and stylist. As has been stated, before selecting a career look around and get a panoramic view of the various fields that are open, make a list of fourteen or fifteen that interest him, narrow it down, and study in this way, the ones he still thinks suitable to himself. Before we take up the method of studying a career, constantly keep in mind the essential question, “If I do this, where will I be twenty years from now?” The next important thing a person must consider is, to find out the importance of his planned work to social welfare. In connection with this, he must ask himself, “Is the occu- pation necessary to the public; is the thing produced a luxury or a necessity; is the product continually in use, or could the world do with- out this occupation?” These are important questions, because if the product is a necessity then the occupation will have a better and more lasting future. If the world cannot do without the kind of work that a particular oc- cupation gives, then, too, the future of that vocation will be more profitable and successful. A person studying the occupations must analyze his work in them carefully. In order to get worthwhile information on this, a good plan would be to visit a person while he is on duty in a particular occupation, so that he may get an idea of a typical day’s work. Therefore, he must take one man’s working day in this occupation, outline it. and try to fit himself into a similar day’s work. In doing this, he can also list the different lines of work in one certain vocation and select the ones that interest him most, and prepare himself for them. Too often one looks for the bright side of the work, but very seldom picks it apart to find out the disadvantages and the disappointments he will encounter. It is well to consider all the good points, but one must not forget the bad points, either. If he does become acquainted with what he will have to put up with, then he will accept these unpleasant sides as a part of the day’s work when they finally come, instead of becoming discouraged. Then he must consider his income. If there are many chances for promotion in his work, his income will undoubtedly increase fre- quently. One should find out what his income will be'the first year, the fifth year, and the tenth year. This will help a great deal in find- ing out whether or not the interesting voca- tions will still be interesting ten or twenty years from now. The conditions under which he will have to work are an important item. He should think whether or not he will be happy under these conditions, and if they will make his work con- genial. Besides reading all he can about the occupation, a person shdlild never neglect the opportunity that he usually has, for discussing thoroughly, the occupation with a person who is successful in it. Also he must consider his health very care- fully, for without this, what happiness or

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THE S A M P L E II 25 quite sure that he will be able to complete his eight or ten years of training. lie should look ahead and estimate the approximate amount of his training and apprenticeship as well as the expense of establishing his practice. In short, self-analysis is such an important but complicated matter that one must keep in mind all the factors that affect the situation. As has been stated the intellectual, educa- tional, physical, social, and economic factors are among the many which must all be con- sidered in this process of analyzing one’s self for a happy and useful career. Mary Taylor. SOURCES OK STUDY OF OCCUPATIONS In studying vocations one will find that there are many different sources for study and help. In high schools and colleges, there are some- times courses for the study of occupations. These courses are usually under the guidance of a vocational counselor. They give a pano- ramic view of all the fields of occupation,follow- ing which a list of four or five occupations is then chosen for careful study. These are taken up very thoroughly until one picks a definite profession. If there is no course in occupations that one may enter, he may find a vocational counselor who will give him individual time and advice and will help him to find books and material on vocations and to learn how to analyze him- self. At present, though, classes in occupations and vocational guidance counselors are not yet available to the majority of young people. As a result, they must resort to private study. In this private study one should find all he can on different occupations, then cut the list down to a few in which he might be interested, and study these carefully until he picks a definite career. To obtain information one must turn to printed material. lie may ask,” Where can I obtain help from printed material?” He will find this material in books on vocational guidance, monographs, biographies, magazines and newspapers, and he can often be helped a great deal by interviews with people successful in his chosen field. The books written on vocational guidance contain descriptions of the advantages, dis- advantages and duties of many occupations. Also they will help one to analyze himself and discover his fitting occupation. One must not spend his time with books that describe only tlie processes of the occupations, but rather he should rely upon those which tell him about the working conditions, the preparation he must have, and the chances for advancement. Such helpful books as “Occupations” by Brewer, “Find Yourself” by Cohen and “Choosing Your Life Work” by Rosengarten are being published more and more and can be found in increasing numbers in school, town and state libraries. The monographs or pamphlets are essay material put out by vocational guidance or- ganizations and many colleges and give the latest reports on different occupations. Each monograph contains a description of a different occupation. These are published to give one a panoramic view of major careers and prevent a person from selecting a career from a limited range. The Institute for Research of Chicago has a splendid set of monographs covering seventy-six occupations, fifty-six of which have been purchased and are being used this year in the local high school. One may ask how biographies can help. When one reads the lives of men successful in their chosen occupations he can hear many good points on how to rise to success anil the things he must go through to get there. A good autobiography or biography gives one a true and real picture of the life that a person has to live if he is to become successful. Bio- graphy takes away the rosy light that young people too often throw about the occupation in which, at the time, they are interested. After reading “Footlights and Spotlights” by Otis Skinner the glamour is stripped from the career of acting, and “I Become a Reporter,” that chapter from the “Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens ”, makes one realize that the life of a newspaperman is more work than play. In order to keep up with the latest news on the occupation in which one is interested, he must read the latest magazines and newspapers in which he will find many good articles. When reading these, one must be careful to deduct the truth from exaggeration, and advertising from reality. If he can do this, current litera- ture will be of great help to him. Such maga- zines as the Forum, Scribners, Reader’s Digest, the trade journals, the Ameri- can, and Rotarian often have many good articles on occupations. After one has studied and analyzed himself until he has found an occupation he likes, he will find very helpful interviews with people successful in his chosen field. He should be careful to choose only successful people because the unsuccessful will give him a very gloomy picture. The successful are more likely to tell the advantages and disadvantages but even then one must watch for exaggeration on the