Career Goals: Improving Native Hawaiian Community

After graduation, I committed myself to learning new things and more importantly to try things that intimidated and frightened me. While doing so, I searched for and found a way to make a change in the lives of those who needed help the most. I became a career advisor for one of Washington D.C’s largest workforce development projects. I was tasked with the responsibility of teaching DC’s welfare population the essential skills needed to progress in life, and succeed in the workforce. Having overcame being a learning disabled student, and traumatic brain injury I was

As part of my networking, there are some high school classmates who I am in constant contact with. We all went to college and have our own careers in different fields. One of these friends allowed me to live with her for my first year out of college. Four of us played volleyball together. They are from Waianae, Kaneohe, and Waimanalo and they?re Hawaiian, Portuguese, and Japanese. Over the years, we realized we get our strength from our diversity. When we have a

As a young child I remember being asked the question: “what do you want to be when you grow up.” While I struggled with the answer for many years, in the course of deep reflection I found that I knew two truths about myself: I loved education, and I gained fulfillment through helping others. Developing and learning in the course of my four years at Loyola University Chicago, I discovered a passion to pursue a career in higher education.

One of my many goals in life, since I was younger, was to major in a profession where I can change the world and make it a better place. I want to help people and positively impact their lives. This is when I decided to major in occupational therapy and focus the profession towards youth. Hopefully, I will  be able to

My experiences at the University of Houston have greatly shaped my personal identity. I realized that my strongest attributes revolve around working with and mentoring others, including those with backgrounds and experiences different than my own. My role as a Resident Advisor was meaningful because I had a chance to work with students of different majors, classification, and ethnicity. I helped them feel comfortable in their living situation and be involved on campus. Adjusting to campus life is a difficult transition, so I became their support system. I challenged myself to form connections with each resident by finding common interests, connecting to campus resources, and educating with floor programs. This experience taught me to be more

From what I’ve heard, many students at Thaddeus go on to have successful careers, which is one of my career goals. I would like to have a career that has a good outlook and will continue to grow in the future. I also value having a meaningful job, one that may help the community or other. My goal would be to have a generally enjoyable job as well. Finally, I would like to have a financially beneficial job. I plan to achieve these goals by being committed to my education and working with others to the best of my ability.

For the past 10 years I have attended programs and volunteered at the Waipa Foundation, a community based nonprofit committed to restoring native systems and resource, and preserving Hawaiian culture. Through service and dedication to an organization essential to the history of Hawaii, Waipa has allowed me the opportunity to form some of my most treasured connections to my home and understand the significance of a unified community. My days spent working in the muddy kalo patches and pounding poi were all apart of a sustainable system modeled after Hawaiian practices. The passion to care for those around me and build a family is the value I hope to establish any where I go.

If you were to walk around a college campus and randomly ask students what they were going to do with their lives you would most likely be answered with tears, confused looks, and some near breakdowns. Luckily for me I’ve always known that I’ve wanted to become an Occupational Therapist.

Last year, if you were to question where I saw myself in the next few years, my answer wouldn’t have been applying to college. During that time, I had a successful career as a store manager, and for the most part, that was all I could ever see myself doing. I excelled as a store manager, and I enjoyed the frequent interactions with the various diverse individuals that I got to experience. However, I was never elated nor passionate about that career choice. In fact, I can distinctively remember the moments where I would arrive home from work in the late hours of the night, pondering if this was all there was for me.

Some of my long term professional and personal goals include earning a public relations or communications internship and eventually working in the same field, taking on a steady school year job that is fulfilling and more communications oriented than Domino’s Pizza, studying abroad and traveling, becoming proficient in a second language, and learning more about the research opportunities available to me, or ones that I could create, as a student interested in communications, public relations, and leadership. As I continue to develop socially, emotionally, academically, and professionally, I want to expand upon these goals and challenge myself to expect more from myself.

I hope entering college, I find a strong sense of purpose and grow as a unique individual. I’d like to find a good option for me to work towards after I graduate from college. I’m making a personal goal to be more social and active within the student body. I find that I’m doing well so far, so I’m hoping things just go up from

Colin Powell once said, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure”. My undergraduate career was not a typical one, I have struggled and worked for everything I have achieved. At the end of the finish line, I have gained a Bachelor’s Degree from Molloy College in Speech-Language Pathology and I am extremely proud of all the knowledge in which I have learned throughout this time. Throughout my first 3 years of my undergraduate career, I had an enormous amount of difficulty trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

I completed my associate degree last year, and as I am getting closer to completing my bachelor’s degree, as I look ahead I can see that light at the end of the tunnel. This journey has been very long, and at times I have felt frustrated and afraid, but I have learned to conquer my fears. Completing college is essential if I want to be successful and competitive in today’s world. Years ago I never thought this day would ever come. My current goal is to complete my B.S. degree in Community and Human Services with a concentration in Human Services. I am currently volunteering at an organization that helps to keep families from becoming homeless. Everything I have learned so far here at Empire State College has been tremendously helpful.

Currently, there are many types of goals I have for myself that are important to my career. Of the first, I want to stay here at University of Saint Francis and get my Bachelors in Science of Nursing. I’ve transferred to and from many colleges since being out of high school and I think I’ve finally found my home at USF. This degree would help me obtain a job that is something I enjoy doing rather than something I’m forced to do. Secondly, I would love to be on the Dean’s List every semester. I’m not quite sure how this fits in with my career other than it would be something I can say I did while getting my degree. Lastly, I plan on sticking with my job at the nursing home in hopes that someday I can use that as resume builder and gain extra knowledge in things I wouldn’t normally be able to access in a classroom. Who knows, this might lead to further advancement and even promotion!

“The mission of the Career and Community Studies (CCS) Program at The College of New Jersey is to provide a coordinated and comprehensive course of study that includes career exploration and preparation, self awareness, discovery and personal improvement, through a framework of liberal learning and community participation. (Career and Community Studies, n.d.)”