The Final Essay:

A Reflection on my Career Discovery Journal

By: Trevor Smith

22 November 2 !"

Commitment to Success When I review my earlier reflective writing journal entries, Im entertained by what I had to say. My ideas were short and often cut off before I could fully explain what I wanted to, and quite honestly, my first reflective writing journal entries were me writing just because I had to. My initial entries showed that I had a very general concept of what I wanted to do, and how I was going to get there. or example, one of the first reflective questions in !"# $% was, &Why did you choose to earn a college degree'( My response, &I want to get a college degree because its necessary to succeed and you get more money at a job if you have a college degree.( #here is truth to this statement, but everybody )nows that. Its a generally accepted reason why people get college degrees. *ver the course of this semester, I have been able to develop and construct answers specific to me, so if you as)ed me the same question again, why did you chose to earn a college degree, I would reply with, &I want a college degree because I

need a bac)+up plan. #hough pilots are seldom required to have a college degree, I want to have one as a bac)+up plan in case my vision gets worse, or something just doesnt wor) out in the future. ,dditionally, I want to strive for something that my mom couldnt, and prove to my family that I have what it ta)es to succeed in the real world.( -ome things have stayed the same. #he majority of my reflective responses were oriented around my desired career choice of an airline pilot. #herefore, the general statements of what Im going to do in the future and how I am going to attain that goal pretty much has remained the same. Ive learned to appreciate that setting goals is something that can help one succeed. or me personally, setting goals is a way of &forcing( you to complete something. -etting small, attainable goals and achieving those goals gives me a feeling of accomplishment, and it actually ma)es me want to continue on and reach that one ultimate goal that I desire to achieve.

#n$uiry !hoosing the career to profile was probably the easiest thing Ive ever had to do. My desire to be an airline pilot has been in my blood forever. My mom was a flight attendant for .-,ir, starting in %/01 and lasting up until one year after I was born in %//2. ,fter my moms retirement from the airline, she received a severance pac)age of free flight to most destinations in the .nited -tates. ,t the time, my whole family lived up in 3altimore, Maryland, so my mom and I would ta)e the 4reensboro to 3altimore trip on a regular basis. #his exposure to aviation caused me to catch &the bug( and explains why I chose the career of airline pilot to profile. #hrough this inquiry process, Ive

learned that my desire to be a professional pilot is unwavering. 5ow did I learn this' When we were tas)ed with filling out a career profile based on what we assumed happens in the job, it almost identically matched the career profile based on the actual research. #his to me proves that I understand what exactly happens and what to expect with the job of airline pilot. ,lso through the inquiry project, Ive as)ed myself a lot of new questions. *ne that seems to come up more than others is, &What is the most efficient way of doing it'( #o be a pilot, Im required to have at least %,677 flight hours, with a certain number of hours in different types of aircraft. I want to )now what is the most efficient way of trying to build up all these hours while spending the least amount of money possible. ,lso, another question I seemed to as) myself was, &What about my family'( 8ilots ma)e a huge sacrifice when they commit to four+day long trips away from their families. It can be especially hard on a pilot when they miss important milestones in their childrens life. 9earning about inquiry matters because it opens up a whole new world of discovery. Inquiry is a way to evaluate a topic and find out the facts at a very interesting expense. 9i)e Ive stated in earlier journal entries, when you research a topic that is more interesting to you, li)e you do in inquiry, the process goes a lot quic)er and smoother. 9ater on in life if I run into a problem, li)e how to pay bills for instance, I would use the methods and s)ills of inquiry to figure out the best and most efficient way of completing a tas) that doesnt

overwhelm me.

Cultural A%areness I thin) its a natural thing for people to assume things about others. 8rior to certain activities this semester, I had my own assumptions. I try not to judge a boo) by its cover, but sometimes its hard to. With some people in my !"# class, by the way that they would

wal) in late, or not participate in class, I was thin)ing that they do not have a good concept of what they want to do in the future after college and that they are in college strictly for the party aspect of it. ,fter wor)ing with some people on assignments, unfortunately my assumptions were true about a few people, but to my pleasant surprise, a lot of people really have a drive and desire to do something, they just have a more difficult time putting it down onto paper. #here were some people in my !"# class that came from different ethnic groups or whose families came from different countries. I had the assumption that they would not fully understand what it ta)es to get and hold a job in the .nited -tates. I also thought that it would be harder for them to do their inquiry paper or reflective writing about a future career because they dont have any relatives that previously wor)ed in the .nited -tates. ,gain to my pleasant surprise, these individuals were very much prepared, some, I admit, were even more prepared than me. #he assignment where I had to compare my personality traits with those of others, and where I had to compare the traits necessary to succeed in my job, with traits necessary to succeed in their job really opened up my eyes and helped me to appreciate the cultural value of everybody in the .nited -tates. I come to the conclusion that everybody in this world has a purpose to live and a reason to be here. We, as ,mericans, have to accept everybody for who they are and s)ills they are special it. We cant be so quic) to

jump to conclusion or judge a boo) by its cover. I was able to resolve misconceptions or learn new perspectives by listening to what people had to say and hear what they are good at and what they want to do. 3y not jumping to conclusions, I was able to reform my perspectives about those li)e me or from different cultures.