Page 143 - Keys To Community College Success

WRITE IT Communicate

Emotional intelligence journal: Make a wiser choice. Think about a decision you made
that you wish you had handled differently. Describe the decision and what feelings resulted from
it. Then, describe what you would do if you could approach the decision again, thinking about
what mindset and actions might produce more positive feelings and a better outcome.
Real-life writing: Address a problem. Think about a problem you have right now—
difficulty with a course, a scheduling nightmare, conflict with a classmate. Write a letter—to Critical, Creative, and Practical Thinking
an advisor, instructor, friend, or someone else—asking for support. Be specific about what you
need and how the person can help. Assess the effect that the letter may have, and if you decide
that it may help, have someone you trust review it for you and then send it via mail or email.

WORK IT Build Your Brand

Generate Ideas for Internships
21st Century Learning Building Blocks

■ Financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy
■ Leadership and responsibility
■ Communication and collaboration

Pursuing internships is a practical way to get experience, learn what you like and don’t like, and
make valuable connections. Even if you intern in a career area that you don’t ultimately pursue,
you build skills that are useful in any career. The creative thinking skills you’ve built will help
you generate ideas for where you might intern at some point during your college career.
First, use personal contacts to gather information about career fields. Generate the names
of two people whom you want to interview about their fields or professions. Note the following
for each:
■ Name and contact information
■ Field
■ Why you want to interview him or her
Then talk to the people you have listed, and take notes.
Next, look up each of these fields in the Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the
U.S. Department of Labor (available at the library or online). To get a better idea of whether you
would want to intern in these fields, read OOH categories for each such as Nature of the Work,
Training, Working Conditions, Advancement, Job Outlook, Earnings, and so on. Take notes and
compare the fields based on what you’ve learned.
Finally, consult someone in your school’s career office about local companies that offer
internships. Note specific information about internship job descriptions, timing (during the term,
summer), and whether there is any pay involved.
Analyze what you have learned from your reading, your interviews, and the career office infor-
mation. Based on your analysis, name what field or fields in which you would like to intern and why.
Then, describe what practical action you plan to take to secure an internship within the next
two years.

Answers to perception puzzles on p. 91

First puzzle: A duck or a rabbit
Second puzzle: Lines or a letter

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