The future is quite the quandary.

Currently, I am a seventeen year old junior a Desert Hills High

School. I am a person who loves to learn. I am planning to go to college and pursue a higher education
in the scientific field. I am geared towards science and math, so its natural that I should pursue
science. I am currently planning on graduating from Desert Hills High School. After that, I will move to
Bellingham, Washington where I will start work immediately to earn a little more money for college.
Then I will apply to the University of Washington. I have been able to refine this plan by doing the
various activities on the quest of researching my future.
The first activity was a reflection on a guest speaker named Evan Major. He works for Stevens
Henager College giving presentations to the schools in the area. He spoke to us about the future and
college. I have been fretting about college, but he gave me some calming words. He said, People dont
drop out of college because it is too difficult (Major). People drop out of college because they cant pay
for it anymore (Major). This was very comforting to me because I am worried that I will crack under the
pressure. I feel confident now that I can make it through college. My brother, Carter, is a student at the
University of Washington right now and he thinks I can easily make it through college. College is just
another step in our educational journey.
Following this activity, we started another activity regarding the meaning of success. We read a
poem that was about success and got us thinking about what success meant to us. To me, success means
getting things done that I want done! I want to go to the University of Washington and leave with a
Bachelors Degree at least. I want to be married to a man who shares the same ideals as I do. I want to
get a tattoo that means something to me. I also want to have my ears pierced with either diamond studs
or plugs. I am actually wondering if I should adopt a child too. Additionally, I want to leave a mark. I
want to be remembered as a great man who stood for what he thought to be right. All of these nominal
things will show that I have succeeded.

After that wonderful activity, we moved on to the third activity. The third activity was a parent
interview and reflection on that interview. My father has held many jobs in his life. As I interviewed
him, it dawned on me that all the jobs were about business. This is what interested him most in life. He
is currently a marketing consultant (Packard). This has showed me that I should pursue what interests
me. He once quoted Confucius saying, Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in
your life (Packard). My father loves what he does, but he wishes that he had pursued a more
professional degree (Packard). He wanted to of greater value to businesses. My father isnt the best
example, but this bit of information is enough for me. I plan to take this in and apply it immediately. If I
were to be a Marine Biologist, I will never have to work a day in my life! What a beautiful thought!
Next, activity four was a very interesting activity. The activity was broken into responses to
different surveys on choices360.com. This website is designed to help students, like me, decide what we
want to do. The first survey gave us our interests after we completed the test. At first, I was annoyed
and taken back when the survey tried to say what I was interested in. After I evaluated the results, I
realized it was just confirming that I am interested in science. I am considered an investigator, which
means that I like to deal with ideas and facts about things (Choices360). I love the natural world, so I
plan to release the investigator inside of me and pursue science.
Following this survey, I took another survey about the career cluster that fits me best. I was
surprised to find that the Agriculture cluster fit best (Choices360)! I do not like farms, but I can see how
it would work for me. I like plants so maybe I could help a farmer with their crops. Botany is the study
of plants and their physiology (Choices360). This could become useful in southern countries if I were to
help farmers grow their crops best. If I were to be a Botanist, I would be satisfying the investigator side
of me. This was the last survey that I took on choices360.com.

After I finished that survey, I was asked to research two careers that caught my eye. Instead of
talking about the expected careers, I looked into different areas. The first career was a Climate Change
Analyst. A Climate Change Analyst provides analytical support for policy briefs related to renewable
energy, energy efficiency, or climate change (Choices360). This was interesting to me because I would
be looking at renewable energy. Renewable energy has always been interesting to me because I can see
it leading the human race to the future. Another nice thing about being a Climate Change Analyst is the
pay. I would be making about seventy thousand dollars a year (Choices360)! That would be quite nice!
Additionally, I would need to get a Bachelors Degree for this career (Choices360).
The second career that I looked at was being a Botanist. This is an interest that was born one year
ago in Mrs. Lojkos tenth grade Biology class. When we started talking about plants and their cells, I
was bewildered by their complexities. A Botanist, like I said earlier, studies plants and their physiology
(Choices360). If I were a Botanist, I would spend my days outside in a Northwestern forest studying the
plants. I would also be making about sixty-three thousand dollars a year (Choices360). This isnt as
good as a Climate Change Analyst, but it would be something I love. Sadly, I will wither need a Masters
Degree or a Doctorate Degree to pursue this career (Choices360). My friend, Tyray, said, Dont think
about the education required. Just focus on what you want to do.
To finish activity four, I was asked to look at things pertaining to college. I started by researching
the different education levels that I could make it by with in the science field. I figured that I could make
it into a couple of different careers with just a Bachelors Degree. If I wanted to be a Botanist,
Astronomer, or an Epidemiologist, I would need to get a PhD in these areas. The University of
Washington would teach me about Astronomy and Botany. This would be great for me if I decide to
actually go for those careers. Marine Biology has always been an interest of mine, but the University of
Washington doesnt offer that. The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington offers Marine

Biology. I will have to decide which of the three careers, if any of them, I will pursue before I get to
college.
Following the heels of activity four, we began activity five. This activity was about our annual
salary. We filled out the worksheet and then evaluated it. The worksheet would tell us, hypothetically,
the annual salary we would need to survive. I calculated that I would need to earn about thirty thousand
dollars a year to survive at the bare minimum. That is the annual salary required for me alone. My
husband would work as well, or he better work as well, so we both can make that much money easily. As
a Botanist, I could make about twice my needed salary! This made my future less imposing and much
brighter! I felt like a king when I saw that. This salary projection opened a lot of doors for me. I could
literally be whatever I wanted and I would be financially secure. Since I would need about thirty
thousand a year, I will pursue Botany and attend the University of Washington. My future was suddenly
thrown into a new beautiful light when I completed this activity!
The final activity of the whole report was on Utahfutures.org. There were five worksheets that
came with this activity. The first was about my interests. This test said that I was, once again, an
Investigator (Utah Futures). As I said early, an investigator works with facts and ideas. This is
basically saying that science is the perfect field for me to go into. This conformed what Choices360.com
said about me. It was quite interesting to me that my interests never changed from website to website. I
was concerned that the different websites would say something different. Since I am able to look back
on the two results from the interest survey, I feel as if I was born to be a scientist!
Then, the second worksheet informed me of what was important to me in a career. I was a bit
annoyed with the survey since it placed restrictions on what I could say was important or not (Utah
Futures). I felt that this threw off my results. Never the less, the survey proved helpful. I was able to
see what I needed in a career and could, then, search for careers matching my results. The scientific type

careers were the closest match to my results (Utah Futures). Also, careers that required independence
were great matches to me. This was expected, but what wasnt expected, was the first career it listed as a
match. The first career was an Archeologist (Utah Futures). This was surprising to me since I have
never been interested in Archeology. I guess Archeology is a career that is quite independent.
The third worksheet pertained to my career clusters. Tied for first was Agriculture and Science
(Utah Futures). Once again Agriculture showed up on my career cluster. Luckily, Science was up there
too. I looked into the Science cluster and found some quite interesting jobs. There were three jobs total,
and they were Chemist, Biologist, and an Environmental Scientist (Utah Futures). Each of these jobs
require a Bachelors Degree. Also, these jobs would provide me with the annual salary I would need to
survive (Utah Futures). I am confident that I could be in any of these job positions; however, I would
need to have gone to the University of Washington for at least four years to acquire a Bachelors.
By and by, I came to the final worksheet for the sixth activity. This worksheet was designed to
help me think of the different things that will need to happen in order to accomplish my dreams. First
off, I would need my own space. I cant get things done when I have people trying to control my actions.
My teachers, counselors, and parents would need to let me continue down my own path. Second, I
would need to make sure that I can finance college. I am going to have to rely on Scholarships, Grants,
and the Husky Promise. The Husky Promise is a financial aid tool for those who qualify (University of
Washington). This is offered by the University of Washington. This tool will pay my tuition for all four
years as long as I qualify (University of Washington). Lastly, I will need to be prepared mentally. I will
have to make sure that my mental preparation is in check. I plan to take Physics and Calculus to help me
get used to harder work. These classes will look quite appealing to the University of Washington. All of
these things must happen for my potential to be fully realized.

In final, six activities helped me attain a better knowledge of my future. The first activity gave
me the solace I so desperately needed. I was scared of college and the future, but was saved by Evan
Majors presentation. Next, the second activity brought out what I really thought success meant. This
will help me greatly in the future. I will be able to gauge how I have been doing in order to achieve
success. Thereafter, activity three enlightened me on what I could learn from my father. He showed me
the importance of finding a job that will bring happiness (Packard). Also, the importance of a higher
education. Afterward, activity four helped me understand what I should do for a career. I was able to see
what interested me and what to do to reach that job (Choices360). Latterly, the fifth activity was able to
inform me of a, hypothetical, annual salary that I would need. This helped me narrow down what jobs I
could take in order to survive. The sixth and final activity was a lot like the fourth activity. Activity six
confirmed what was interesting to me and what career I should pursue (Utah Futures). All of these
activities helped me build this report on my future. I am going to attend the University of Washington
and be successful in life!

Works Cited
Choices360. XAP Corporation, 2015. Web. 4 Nov. 2015.
Major, Evan. The Year 2050. Stevens Henager College. St. George. 27 Oct. 2015
Packard, Todd. Personal Interview, 11 Nov. 2015.
Utah Futures. Utah Futures.org, 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
University of Washington. University of Washington, 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.