• Ask your parent(s) about their career choices. Can you spend a day job shadowing them? What do they like/dislike about their jobs/careers? What do they wish they had done differently?
• How about aunts, uncles, older siblings, grandparents, next-door neighbors? Could you ask them about their work settings? Max,
now retired, lives next door to me. He spent his entire career in law enforcement. I have talked with him several times about all aspects of law enforcement as a way to get career choice. Ishmael is in training for the Iditarod. 
After talking with him, I’m sure I don’t want to do that—really hard work, cold. Give me the palm trees and the sunshine☺! Nala and Simba 
are already in training at Energizer Bunny School—they could be a good source of information. However, I really don’t have the ears for that job and I already now I have no musical talent (base drum not a good idea).• Does your school host a Career Day or have video conferences regarding different careers? If it does either, do you know how to sign up for these experiences?
• Does your community have a formal job shadowing program? Mine does. It’s called STEP (Summer Training and Exploration Program), but you have to apply to be part of it. What are you waiting for? Get into your counselor’s office and see if there is a similar program in your city.
• Are there other ways to try out certain fields before you leave high school? When I went to the video conference on engineering, I found out that the university making the presentation hosts a summer program for rising juniors and seniors who think they might be interested in engineering. It’s called SITE (Student Introduction to Engineering) and it’s only a week in the summer.
My counselor says there are all sorts of short-term, summer programs for students to try out fields like architecture, medicine and business, etc. It’s up to you to see if these programs are hosted in your community and/or by colleges and universities in your area. What are you waiting for?
Woof,
Clyde
