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What advice do you have for someone like me? What steps should I take for a better future?
Hi, my name is Mary J, and I am a freshman at Florida State College at Jacksonville. I am in the process of completing my Associate's Degree before attempting a four-year degree. Being the first college student in my family and coming from a different country. I have found it difficult to complete simple things like my FASFA and asking my parents for college advice. I am at the most important part of my life, and I want to take every precaution and every opportunity that is out there for me and other kids around my age. Not being able to decide on a career has put me in a position where it feels like the future is coming too quickly. What advice do you have for someone like me? What steps should I take for a better future? #career #major #school #advice
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7 answers
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Yasemin’s Answer
Hi Mary! It's wonderful to hear your story! Congratulations so far in your education, I am a first generation college student as well; both of my siblings went to college before me so I definitely did get help from them for the FAFSA. However, I did figure out a lot of things on my own as well and that being said we here at CareerVillage will be able to help you out with any questions you have for your goals!
FAFSA:
For FAFSA, I would recommend to check out the website FAFSA.ed.gov. They give helpful information for students but I'd like to offer what I know. First you set up an account and your parents and you have a FSA ID, so you can log on with that each time so be sure to write it down somewhere so you don't forget. You are usually asked simple but tedious questions, nothing that is hard to answer but just important to be careful when answering so you put down factual information; mostly it's your parents income and dependents they have, where they work, etc. You put the schools you are interested in, they have a college code and most of the time it can be found on their website and it will come up on the FAFSA website too as you put in the code. When the applications go to college and you find out your acceptance you see the aid you get; so there are loans and grants. Grants are federal aid that you don't have to pay back but loans you do; that being said there are two types of loans federal subsidized and unsubsidized. Federal subsidized loans are loans that do not accrue interest as long as you are in school at least half-time, unsubsidized loans are loans that do accrue interest the minute you take out the loan regardless if you are in school or not. There are also private loans that students take out after exhausting federal grants, scholarships and federal loans however the interest on these can be very high so if you do take them out I would advise to keep the interest low; choose an option with low interest and maybe try to pay the interest while in school. For example if you take out a 5,000$ loan with 5% interest, each year the interest should be 250$ (based on the time period, such as daily, monthly or annual), now that may not seem much at first but if it is a monthly interest rate, that will build up. However if you pay even half of that interest and try to keep the loan within reach then when you graduate the debt accrued won't be as stressful. Lastly for FAFSA they ask about work study- I would recommend to put yes- work study as you may also know, is a job on campus where you get a paycheck but the balance is set beforehand. That balance in your aid is distributed among paychecks as an actual employee with the school- I checked my school's website after receiving work study to see who I can meet with. If you obtain work study make sure you know what department to talk to and soon because it can be omitted I believe if you don't claim your position within the first month or so (from what I recall).
Studying:
Since you are in community college you probably already have gotten use to professors, classes, and studying as well in a college curriculum; as you can see there is much more independence during college Mary so I would recommend to keep on top of your work. Professors are helpful with office hours and meeting with students to go over questions and solve problems you may be confused with however that step relies on you. In high school it is more personal but professors in college have many students and if you don't reach out it can go unnoticed even if you are struggling with a class. I would recommend to study each day for class, read, take notes, make notecards (Quizlet is a great app for this) and attend class as well; attending class will make you a more interactive and engaged student and also will keep you on your toes for any future assignments and exams. In addition be organized with a planner and/or calendar, write down assignments, exam dates, to do's for the day because this will help facilitate the amount of schoolwork you will have to do!
College resources:
Check out the career center for internships and jobs, stop by financial aid and meet with an adviser to help explain in detail what FAFSA is, schedule a tutoring center appointment or writing center appointment to get that extra help in a class or a read over for that important research paper. Stop by the gym (it's part of your tuition) and exercise and stay active, this will help keep away stress too! There is also a wellness center at many colleges, where they offer meditation, stress tips, among other things, especially before finals and midterms! Keep in touch with your adviser especially when scheduling classes (see below for my tip on scheduling) as you will need to have your hold removed!
Scheduling classes:
In college when scheduling for classes I would recommend to make 3 schedules, especially as a freshmen and sophomore. From my experience at university students get a time when they can schedule for classes at the end of each semester( around Nov. for the spring semester classes and around April for the Fall semester, for example). However, for the first 2 years until you are about a junior you get the last pick of classes or close to it. So let's say it is registration week for everyone, the beginning of the week is for upperclassmen and athletes then towards the end of the week, freshmen and sophomore get to register; however classes can go quickly that's why it's important to make a couple schedules. For example, if you need to take a chemistry, history, psychology and philosophy class next semester then I would recommend to make schedules that have classes on different days and times. One schedule has the classes on certain days and times and then the other schedules will have the classes on different days and times. This will give you flexibility so you don't get locked out and end up missing a class you want to take. Your adviser will also help in explaining how to register and how to pick classes.
I know it's a lot of information, but I hope this helps!
Best of luck!
FAFSA:
For FAFSA, I would recommend to check out the website FAFSA.ed.gov. They give helpful information for students but I'd like to offer what I know. First you set up an account and your parents and you have a FSA ID, so you can log on with that each time so be sure to write it down somewhere so you don't forget. You are usually asked simple but tedious questions, nothing that is hard to answer but just important to be careful when answering so you put down factual information; mostly it's your parents income and dependents they have, where they work, etc. You put the schools you are interested in, they have a college code and most of the time it can be found on their website and it will come up on the FAFSA website too as you put in the code. When the applications go to college and you find out your acceptance you see the aid you get; so there are loans and grants. Grants are federal aid that you don't have to pay back but loans you do; that being said there are two types of loans federal subsidized and unsubsidized. Federal subsidized loans are loans that do not accrue interest as long as you are in school at least half-time, unsubsidized loans are loans that do accrue interest the minute you take out the loan regardless if you are in school or not. There are also private loans that students take out after exhausting federal grants, scholarships and federal loans however the interest on these can be very high so if you do take them out I would advise to keep the interest low; choose an option with low interest and maybe try to pay the interest while in school. For example if you take out a 5,000$ loan with 5% interest, each year the interest should be 250$ (based on the time period, such as daily, monthly or annual), now that may not seem much at first but if it is a monthly interest rate, that will build up. However if you pay even half of that interest and try to keep the loan within reach then when you graduate the debt accrued won't be as stressful. Lastly for FAFSA they ask about work study- I would recommend to put yes- work study as you may also know, is a job on campus where you get a paycheck but the balance is set beforehand. That balance in your aid is distributed among paychecks as an actual employee with the school- I checked my school's website after receiving work study to see who I can meet with. If you obtain work study make sure you know what department to talk to and soon because it can be omitted I believe if you don't claim your position within the first month or so (from what I recall).
Studying:
Since you are in community college you probably already have gotten use to professors, classes, and studying as well in a college curriculum; as you can see there is much more independence during college Mary so I would recommend to keep on top of your work. Professors are helpful with office hours and meeting with students to go over questions and solve problems you may be confused with however that step relies on you. In high school it is more personal but professors in college have many students and if you don't reach out it can go unnoticed even if you are struggling with a class. I would recommend to study each day for class, read, take notes, make notecards (Quizlet is a great app for this) and attend class as well; attending class will make you a more interactive and engaged student and also will keep you on your toes for any future assignments and exams. In addition be organized with a planner and/or calendar, write down assignments, exam dates, to do's for the day because this will help facilitate the amount of schoolwork you will have to do!
College resources:
Check out the career center for internships and jobs, stop by financial aid and meet with an adviser to help explain in detail what FAFSA is, schedule a tutoring center appointment or writing center appointment to get that extra help in a class or a read over for that important research paper. Stop by the gym (it's part of your tuition) and exercise and stay active, this will help keep away stress too! There is also a wellness center at many colleges, where they offer meditation, stress tips, among other things, especially before finals and midterms! Keep in touch with your adviser especially when scheduling classes (see below for my tip on scheduling) as you will need to have your hold removed!
Scheduling classes:
In college when scheduling for classes I would recommend to make 3 schedules, especially as a freshmen and sophomore. From my experience at university students get a time when they can schedule for classes at the end of each semester( around Nov. for the spring semester classes and around April for the Fall semester, for example). However, for the first 2 years until you are about a junior you get the last pick of classes or close to it. So let's say it is registration week for everyone, the beginning of the week is for upperclassmen and athletes then towards the end of the week, freshmen and sophomore get to register; however classes can go quickly that's why it's important to make a couple schedules. For example, if you need to take a chemistry, history, psychology and philosophy class next semester then I would recommend to make schedules that have classes on different days and times. One schedule has the classes on certain days and times and then the other schedules will have the classes on different days and times. This will give you flexibility so you don't get locked out and end up missing a class you want to take. Your adviser will also help in explaining how to register and how to pick classes.
I know it's a lot of information, but I hope this helps!
Best of luck!
Thank you so much, you have no idea how helpful your advice was. That was amazing thank you!
Mary
You're welcome! I wish you the best! You got this!
Yasemin G.
This is an awesome answer!
P N
Thank you so much!
Yasemin G.
Updated
P’s Answer
Hi there! Congrats on your major accomplishment. It’s hard to give specific advice, but I’d say think about the things you like. Science? Then consider a career in research or human or veterinary medicine. Like math? Engineering?architecture? Law?
Freshman year is really early to have to decide what you want to do. Your school will have a career counseling office or a faculty advisor system. Sit down with them and go over your transcripts and what kids of things you’re interested in. They can help guide you.
Some people finish college and change their minds about what they want to do. So while it’s awesome to know right from the start what you want to do, it’s ok to not know quite yet what career to pursue.
You can ask if your college has shadowing programs. Where you could shadow people in various jobs to see if they interest you.
Best of luck and keep up the great work!
Freshman year is really early to have to decide what you want to do. Your school will have a career counseling office or a faculty advisor system. Sit down with them and go over your transcripts and what kids of things you’re interested in. They can help guide you.
Some people finish college and change their minds about what they want to do. So while it’s awesome to know right from the start what you want to do, it’s ok to not know quite yet what career to pursue.
You can ask if your college has shadowing programs. Where you could shadow people in various jobs to see if they interest you.
Best of luck and keep up the great work!
Thank you so much, I didn't even know shadow programs existed but I'm glad that you told me. I'm definitely checking to see if my school does. Thank you!
Mary
They may call it something differently like an internship etc. For right now, I’d avoid them just because of the pandemic. But once vaccinations have been given widely, and cases are down, it will be safe.
Congrats on everything you’re doing. You’re sure to succeed in whatever you do. Just beware getting caught up in society’s definition of success (money and stuff you own.) Of course financial stability is important. But so is happiness. And fulfillment. When you’re on your deathbed will you care about the car you drove? Or if you helped make the world a better place? That question drives many of the decisions I make in my own life. Finding a balance between financial security and doing what you love is key. 😀
P N
Updated
Jeff’s Answer
Hi Mary,
As a Freshman, it is important to leverage the ability to take a wide variety of courses, even if a few may sound like ones you may not like. Many schools have an add/drop period at the beginning of each semester, this is a great opportunity to find out what each class and field of study is really about. I would suggest after finding a couple of topics that interest you to then try and align your skills with some of the skills that are most utilized in each field of study.
Seeking out a mentor or advisor at the school can also be a valuable resource, they can help you explore different options and will help find the best classes related to your preferences! Also, it is important to remember picking a major is not the end-all-be-all, you can also switch if you feel you would enjoy a different field better!
As a Freshman, it is important to leverage the ability to take a wide variety of courses, even if a few may sound like ones you may not like. Many schools have an add/drop period at the beginning of each semester, this is a great opportunity to find out what each class and field of study is really about. I would suggest after finding a couple of topics that interest you to then try and align your skills with some of the skills that are most utilized in each field of study.
Seeking out a mentor or advisor at the school can also be a valuable resource, they can help you explore different options and will help find the best classes related to your preferences! Also, it is important to remember picking a major is not the end-all-be-all, you can also switch if you feel you would enjoy a different field better!
Thank you so much! and I will. After reading all these answers, I'm finally making some really good decisions.
Mary
Updated
Dr. James’s Answer
Hi Mary. I too am first generation college. I know how hard it is not being able to talk to someone your close to for advice. I am so happy for you that you are pushing yourself to succeed. I too received my Associates Degree and then went onto my Bachelors. After several years, I decided to go back to school to pursue a Masters and now working on a Doctorate.
Pertaining to your comment about FAFSA, it is confusing at first. That website was not easy to follow when you are not used to filling out those types of questions. I suggest asking someone in the financial aide office. They might have some instructions on how to fill it out. The one thing I did like about the FAFSA site is that some of the questions tell you where to find the answers on the tax returns so there is no guessing. The site also allows it to obtain the info directly from the IRS site so you don't have to try to figure out when numbers need to go where.
As for a career choice, have you talked to your school counselor? They sometimes can help you with that. You should also look deep in you and see what are your interests. For example, if you like computers, maybe a field in cyber security would be your thing. You should do something that you like doing.
Since your a freshman in college, look into joined some clubs. Get to know people and network. Find out more about yourself and enjoy college.
Pertaining to your comment about FAFSA, it is confusing at first. That website was not easy to follow when you are not used to filling out those types of questions. I suggest asking someone in the financial aide office. They might have some instructions on how to fill it out. The one thing I did like about the FAFSA site is that some of the questions tell you where to find the answers on the tax returns so there is no guessing. The site also allows it to obtain the info directly from the IRS site so you don't have to try to figure out when numbers need to go where.
As for a career choice, have you talked to your school counselor? They sometimes can help you with that. You should also look deep in you and see what are your interests. For example, if you like computers, maybe a field in cyber security would be your thing. You should do something that you like doing.
Since your a freshman in college, look into joined some clubs. Get to know people and network. Find out more about yourself and enjoy college.
Thank you so much for the great advice James, I feel so much better and it is nice to know that there are people out there that were In my position at some point and now they're doing better than before. Thank you.
Mary
One more thing, never and I mean NEVER, let someone tell you that you cannot do it. If anything, use their negativity as inspiration to push your self harder. For example, I was always smaller than most of my friends. I told my uncle that I wanted to join the Army. He laughed and said that I was too small to join. I did join and worked my way up over the last 28 years. I am now 2 promotions away from being a General.
Dr. James Zavala
Updated
Christopher’s Answer
Hey, Mary!
One thing I'd keep in mind is that unless you pick a career field like Medicine or something that requires a license (architecture, etc..) you don't necessarily have to pick exactly what job you want to have during college.
College gives you a background in a field, and options going forward, but you shouldn't feel trapped within a specific field. Ten years later, you may or may not be working in that area, so not knowing exactly what to do as a freshman is *normal* and shouldn't make you feel too anxious.
One thing I'd keep in mind is that unless you pick a career field like Medicine or something that requires a license (architecture, etc..) you don't necessarily have to pick exactly what job you want to have during college.
College gives you a background in a field, and options going forward, but you shouldn't feel trapped within a specific field. Ten years later, you may or may not be working in that area, so not knowing exactly what to do as a freshman is *normal* and shouldn't make you feel too anxious.
Thank you so much, Christopher. I definitely feel better about being undecided as a freshman, thank you for the reassurance.
Mary
Updated
Simeon’s Answer
If you're drawing a blank on which career field to consider, I would recommend checking out the department of labor's website and seeing which of the fastest growing careers call out to you. These fields offer a greater degree of opportunities, so they make safer career bets. No worries if none of them appeal to you, but they can help shape your idea of what you are looking for in a career.
As far as life skills go, I'd recommend learning aspects of planning including observation, goal setting, feedback loops, and contingency planning. 1.) Observation or reflection is when you set some time to look at how your past week went and think about what you liked and did not like about the previous week. You use these observations for 2.) Goal Setting where you make specific, achievable goals and give yourself a specific due date by which you intend to achieve those goals. Also, make sure to break up bigger goals into smaller goals with their own deadlines, so you can track your progress better. 3.) Feedback loops are any means that you can hear from others about how your goals are doing. Reach out to others and ask them if you are making the right goals and achieving them at the appropriate speed. Great planners have 4.) Contingency (Back-up) Plans. It's important to have an idea of what changes you'll make to your plans if they fail. The more you can make back-up plans in life, the better you'll be able to adapt to quickly changing circumstances.
Also, practice networking. Generally, outside of some entry level positions (but even including most of those), people get jobs because of who they know, not what they know. It's important to remember that you need to build bridges before you need them. If you find yourself in need of a bridge right now, it's already too late. One of the first things to remember with networking is that it's difficult to network above your employment level, meaning you'll have the easiest time networking with people who are just like you. Networking is more of a long-game thing. Once the friends you've made are doing better off, they are likely to turn around and help you find a position as well. Trying to network to managers and recruiters is not really different than a normal cold-call asking for job positions. Go to events if you can, but don't forget to reach out to the people that you already know. Try to build connections with people you have genuine chemistry and connection with if possible. It won't do you much good to go to a networking event and make generic small talk with people and then swap business cards. Think about how likely you would be to recommend someone like that for a job opening. How would you know you could recommend them at all? You need to find people you naturally connect with who will positively remember you and be excited to have you join their company some day.
As far as life skills go, I'd recommend learning aspects of planning including observation, goal setting, feedback loops, and contingency planning. 1.) Observation or reflection is when you set some time to look at how your past week went and think about what you liked and did not like about the previous week. You use these observations for 2.) Goal Setting where you make specific, achievable goals and give yourself a specific due date by which you intend to achieve those goals. Also, make sure to break up bigger goals into smaller goals with their own deadlines, so you can track your progress better. 3.) Feedback loops are any means that you can hear from others about how your goals are doing. Reach out to others and ask them if you are making the right goals and achieving them at the appropriate speed. Great planners have 4.) Contingency (Back-up) Plans. It's important to have an idea of what changes you'll make to your plans if they fail. The more you can make back-up plans in life, the better you'll be able to adapt to quickly changing circumstances.
Also, practice networking. Generally, outside of some entry level positions (but even including most of those), people get jobs because of who they know, not what they know. It's important to remember that you need to build bridges before you need them. If you find yourself in need of a bridge right now, it's already too late. One of the first things to remember with networking is that it's difficult to network above your employment level, meaning you'll have the easiest time networking with people who are just like you. Networking is more of a long-game thing. Once the friends you've made are doing better off, they are likely to turn around and help you find a position as well. Trying to network to managers and recruiters is not really different than a normal cold-call asking for job positions. Go to events if you can, but don't forget to reach out to the people that you already know. Try to build connections with people you have genuine chemistry and connection with if possible. It won't do you much good to go to a networking event and make generic small talk with people and then swap business cards. Think about how likely you would be to recommend someone like that for a job opening. How would you know you could recommend them at all? You need to find people you naturally connect with who will positively remember you and be excited to have you join their company some day.
Networking is good advice but do you have any other advice that would be helpful for a first gen college student who is struggling to find a career path?
Gurpreet Lally, Admin
Gotcha. I beefed up the comment with some more advice and added a section at the beginning with tips on finding a career path.
Simeon Snow
Updated
Sunny’s Answer
Hi Mary,
FAFSA deadline is 6/30/2021, so you still have about six months to complete it. Did you decide which major/4- year school you apply for? I think that would be the bigger question at this point. I would recommend the major that is related to your associate degree or the field that can utilize your skills learned in your associate degree, since that would improve your knowledge/experience and probably help you better find your internship.
I wish all the best for your future!
FAFSA deadline is 6/30/2021, so you still have about six months to complete it. Did you decide which major/4- year school you apply for? I think that would be the bigger question at this point. I would recommend the major that is related to your associate degree or the field that can utilize your skills learned in your associate degree, since that would improve your knowledge/experience and probably help you better find your internship.
I wish all the best for your future!