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My Year in Review

College in general has given me a chance to connect with people who share similar views and values as I do; ENR Scholars has furthered this in respect to my interest in environmental concerns. Being in this positive space and being surrounded by likeminded people have had a positive influence on my habits and worldview. Because of this, I am now more able to make confident choices that will leave less of a footprint and promote a more sustainable life, not only direct decisions but through my improved ability to deliberately and critically think about situations that could be made more sustainable. This choice has impacted the way I understand life; sure I’m may be a bit more troubled in the sense that I’m always concerned about my choices and the fate of world and everything, but it’s that kind of attitude the earth needs. Everyone is used to living their lives passively, thinking only about their decisions in the moment, but it’s crucial to the future of the world to have this devil on your shoulder telling you about everything you’re doing wrong so as to improve yourself for the greater good. Although it can be seen as kind of a sucker’s payoff, I believe that it’s worth it so long as you have strong beliefs and values behind it.

Other changes that I would like to make is to be more connected with nature and make more of an effort to go outside instead of sit inside all day. I would also like to become more confident in doing outdoor activities like biking and hiking and camping and all that fun stuff. There’s a weird crunchy stigma around it for me but its probably just because Im self conscious and feel like I don’t belong in the groups or with the people that often participate in these activities, but we’ll see!

I’m constantly taking in everything from the world around me. There’s so many things that life offers us, and thats why I’m constantly concerned over how its being neglected and mistreated. I’m taking in its beauty and the lessons that can be learned from nature, I’m taking in all the caring and inspiring people and ideologies that it has given us. I’m giving back the respect and dignity it deserves to the best of my abilities. I’m giving back by being aware of injustices against humanity and the environment. I’m learning and taking what I learn to improve myself so as to try and make a positive impact on earth or influence on other people.

So as for my Earth Month Action plan of addressing reproductive rights, my actions and research turned up not much more than what I didn’t already know. Though unfortunate, that being said, I do not think it was not a meaningful project; I just think I chose the wrong topic to produce meaningful results. My topic did not really demand that I make changes to my lifestyle, so although I will continue to keep up with reproductive rights in politics, my life has not been largely impacted to change.

Earth Month Action Plan: Mid-Month Check-in

For the first half of Earth month, I have carried out my action plans of discussing reproductive rights with friends and peers as well as researching the political climate in Ohio in consideration of reproductive issues. These have both been successful and has given me more insight into my community’s perspective on my topic.

First, when discussing with others about how they view reproductive rights and how they have been personally impacted by access to family planning and birth control, I saw that people had feelings and experiences that put their beliefs on the whole spectrum. I found that friends shared my views on reproductive freedoms, I found people who were not really informed on the topic, and I found people that agreed with birth control but not necessarily abortion. This shows how diverse the issue really is, because it is a polarizing subject; I believe that it all comes down to the level in which you are personally affected that shaped your beliefs on the issue of reproductive rights.

In my second week, I tried to dive more into researching what sexual education and health looked like in the Columbus area, as well as learned about our Ohio representatives stances on reproductive rights. Unfortunately, as expected I was not able to find much relevant information about the demographics of Columbus for this topic. However, the Ohio’s public opinion on these issues can be loosely interpreted by how we have one republican representative, Rob Portman, and one democrat, Sherrod Brown. Unsurprisingly, each of these representatives staunchly reflect the polarized beliefs on reproductive issues; Portman has voted against abortion, government funds going to Planned Parenthood, etc while Brown has voted the opposite on these same issues in the Senate.

Now that I have a better grasp on my community’s beliefs on the topic of reproductive rights, taking on the last two weeks should not bring about any big challenges. I am looking forward to writing to these representatives now that I have learned their positions, and then later taking action by volunteering or rallying for reproductive rights.

Earth Month Action Plan

Week 1

For the first week of Earth Month, my action plan to to talk to my friends and peers so as to open discussion into what others think about the current situation considering reproductive rights and coverage. With this I hope to open dialogue into government imposition on women’s bodies, for example the 20 week abortion ban recently implemented in Ohio. This is an important step to take so as to get an understanding of my peers ethical/moral standing on such issues.

What might be difficult with this action is the confrontational aspect it may give off. It is important to see a discussion of such nature, especially when the other person has a different perspective than you do, as cognitive dissonance rather than an attack. To have a successful dialogue is to respect what each other have to say and talk through issues rather than shutting down or being offended.

Week 2

For the second week, my action plan is to get a localized understanding of how reproductive rights may be impacted. In this, I hope to learn about the dynamics of the Columbus area in consideration to income/race inequalities that may exist in healthcare coverage, as well as the extent of sex ed in schools. I will also look into to positions of our elected state officials in relationship to reproductive rights.

What might be difficult is finding accessible statistics to my research into this topic. Additionally, if I do find relevant data another difficulty would be interpreting it correctly.

Week 3

My third week action plan for Earth Month is to contact representatives. Building off of week 2, I will reconsider the positions held by our elected officials on reproductive rights, and address them respectively. I will encourage them to fight more openly to protect reproductive rights.

What might be difficult with this step is the pressure of knowing what to say and sounding professional enough to be taken seriously.

Week 4

For the final week of Earth Month, my action plan is to either find a local rally to participate in or an organization to volunteer with, maybe both. These two activities are important because it gets you out in the real world to see how issues such as reproductive rights affects people. Rallies are an important way of voicing your opinion, and its an active way to see real people in real situations impassioned about the same issue. Volunteering will give the opportunity to see how issues concerning reproductive rights is a real, imposing issue on everyday women’s lives. 

What may be difficult is finding places open to participation/volunteers. For many organizations and nonprofits you have to be trained to participate, so finding one that works with my schedule may prove to be a challenge.

Reproductive Rights: Community Organizing Lens Reflection

Our guest speakers gave insight on their personal community organizing experiences and goals, which I found to really supplement my initial thoughts on the topic. Finding an issue you’re passionate about spawns a whole realization on all the other people within your community that share that same passion. This is relevant concerning my issue of reproductive rights because being a college-aged woman in the primarily liberal Columbus area opens up a world of opportunity for finding people that share the same desire to protect women and their autonomy as I do. On top of that, we are in the state capital so our closeness to the legislative body tackling these issues are nearby; our voices can be pointed more directly at them. As I continue to explore my issue, I need to look more into how my personal community has taken measures in protecting reproductive rights through previous community organizing related events.

What I took away from our guest speakers is that community organizing is really grassroots oriented. Creating and believing in your own solution to a community’s problem is one thing, but its necessary to reach out to the people in your community and show them your ideas. One must be able to get others to to believe in and want to support your cause as well. This is the only way community organizing will be successful in making the changes necessary in ruling institutions, making a vision into a reality.

In consideration of community organizing, to take action on my issue of reproductive rights I would like to possibly look into ways to inform the community about how being ignorant of this issue imposes a direct danger to women. As I mentioned in my earlier post, middle- and upper- class women may take advantage of reproductive health services because they are in a financial position where they don’t need to worry about it. But we are approaching the age where we will no longer be on our parents healthcare plan and, along with the with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the future of reproductive services is not so guaranteed.

Reproductive Rights: Community Organizing Lens

Reproductive rights is an issue that directly impacts the heart of the community. It manifests itself in different ways across socio-economic lines; even today, reproductive rights are taken for granted by some and prized by others based on class. While middle- and upper- class women may have their own private doctor and enough income to have procedures done without hesitation, many lower income families that may or may not even have health insurance are dependent on organizations like Planned Parenthood when in need of even simple checkups. The disparities amongst communities concerning reproductive health are catalysts for concern in these times where these rights are being challenged and infringed upon by distant government bodies.

There are individual community organizers as well as organization advocates that address this issue of reproductive rights every day across the nation. A recent example of the actions taken by impassioned advocates is the Women’s March; this grassroots rally of over half a million people from across the country gathered to protest the new administration’s implications about women and its threat to the future of equality and reproductive rights. Though this is a large-scale example of community organizers coming together to address this issue, it is representative of the fervent opinions people across America have in favor of protecting reproductive rights.

Challenges that exist when participating in community organizing include being shut down or, in many cases in the face of opposition, participants being arrested and detained even in situations of peaceful protest.

The most important things to consider when thinking about community organizing is making sure to be representative of your community, and having open conversations with the people in it. It is important to speak from a place of homage, of respecting the experiences of individuals, especially in consideration of reproductive rights, and effectively learning from and using such experiences to set goals for the movement.

In reference to the Justice-Oriented Citizen model, actions in every stage of the model are taking place. For the Personally Responsible Citizen, actions include donating to local Planned Parenthoods and clinics who’s missions are to protect reproductive freedom. On the Participatory Citizen level, one might volunteer at these clinics and set up donation drives, as well as organize people in their community to rise up against injustice against reproductive rights on a local level. For those who transcend these levels, the Justice-Oriented Citizen seeks to address why government bodies attempt to restrict access to reproductive health facilities, as well why women and individuals with uteruses are in need of these facilities. They may look into how and why patriarchal structures are still embedded within society that prevent women from having true bodily autonomy.

The video that I watched that addressed the issue of reproductive rights and community organizing is a DemocracyNow interview with Linda Sarsour, a co-chair organizer of the Womens March on Washington. The main things that I took away from this video were Sarsour’s emphasis on the necessity of sophisticated organizers to acknowledge the intersectionality of issues in our country. Although you can focus on a specific topic area such as reproductive rights, you have to address the marginalized, the related social, economic, and political factors. Another takeaway was the emphasis on the importance in America’s democracy to check the government’s actions and to stand up for our rights. Sarsour also made the point to trace the grassroots evolution of the Women’s March; although it started with a retired grandmother in Hawaii’s Facebook status calling for a symbolic “march”, it lead to the manifestation of marches around the globe standing in solidarity against the governments threat on the people. Essentially, ideas spread through organization which makes community organization a key part in addressing the issue of reproductive rights.

Reproductive Rights: Political Lens Reflection

After hearing Council member Brown speak in class, I found that much of what she was telling us about local government to be comparable with what I had initially perceived in the first part of this assignment. She pretty much solidified the ideas I had presented about how to go about reproductive rights through a political lens, such as calling local representatives and approaching the local government to voice your opinions, as well as the importance of organizing groups into rallies and marches. These are the best ways for us as constituents to do our civic duty in communicating our beliefs and wants in the government sphere.

My biggest takeaway from the discussion with Council member Brown is that people have a say in local government, all you have to do is use your voice. From our speaker I learned of the involvement within the communities councils participate in, as well as how the specialized committees take part in the local government.

After looking into and hearing about the political lens through research and from Council member Brown, to take action on my issue of reproductive rights I personally would like to get involved in nonprofits and organizations already centralized in defense of reproductive rights. From there, I would like to organize fundraisers for organizations that benefit women reproductive and abortion rights, foster conversations that destigmatize this discussion, as well as get in contact with my local representatives to promote the rights that women have over the autonomy of their own body.

Reproductive Rights: Political Lens

Not only do politics impact my issue, but are rather central to it. Reproductive rights, unfortunately, are not solely a woman’s decision; through time it has become the governments. A woman’s ability to obtain abortions and contraceptives is restricted by the state, and through there are laws are put in place both to protect them, just as many exist to bar them. Although we have Roe v. Wade that permits women the right to abortion, it is constantly being under attack both directly and indirectly. We see abortion clinics being shut down across the nation by local legislature– most notably Texas’s House Bill 2 which suffocated clinics to closure through demanding they meet hospital-like standards– and nationally through the GOP’s primary objective to defund Planned Parenthood. Basically, the government is all up in our uteruses more than our gynecologists are.

The issue of contraceptives, abortion, and reproductive rights in general have always had activists in political and government spheres. What is new, however, is a very crucial part in the future of reproductive rights– the new presidential administration. With this big change comes a level of uncertainty with the orders to be carried out, especially so with the new POTUS, so many are being proactive. On a higher level in governmental bodies, liberal representatives are fighting for non restrictive legislation concerning a woman’s autonomy. In addition, there are lobbyists and national organizations petitioning to be heard in the fight to protect reproductive rights. On a more local, citizenship level, me and people like me can can call representatives as well as sign petitions to voice our opinions as constituents. It is important to remember that organizing ourselves as a body and defining goals and initiatives is the most effective way to be seen by politicians, as exemplified by the outpour of rallies and protests across the nation in political areas, such as the Women’s March.

The challenges that exist, however, is having the government listen to the concerns that we are voicing. Democracy had failed us during the election, though, so the overwhelming discontent and distrust with the government complicates things. An additional challenge is getting people to believe that their voice still matters, that there is still a point to everything, that its still important to be motivated to achieve a goal.

In this way, the most important thing to consider when viewing the topic of reproductive rights through a political lens is that politics are necessary in achieving the goal of getting state recognition of a woman’s autonomy. We must find trustworthy representatives and support them during non-preidental elections; it is literally up to the people to choose who makes governmental decisions for us.

The video I watched to supplement this lens was Jessica Waters’ TEDx talk “Changing The Reproductive Rights Conversation”. This talk addressed that the problem with how reproductive rights is discussed is the polarity– pro-life and pro-choice– we assume in talking about the issue. She points out how the close calls in the Supreme Court and other judiciary bodies are often split to a hardly-majority decision that is simply not fair to women. The barrier inhibiting us from moving forward, Waters’ find it, is the fear in the space between the two opposite, but it is in it that the only solution can be found. Instead of assuming this area to be a grey space, she rather offers it as a technicolor space. In this space is the wide array of women’s realities; of how women choose abortion or adoption or childbirth, or how they cannot get pregnant or how they are experiencing poverty. From this video, I took away that it is necessary to overlook the polarity of the abortion argument, to see abortion as a sacrifice that plays a large role in a woman’s autonomy.

Assignment 1: Issue Exploration

The three issues I will be exploring are the shortcomings of recycling in consideration of cosmetics, the effect of industrialized food sources, and the attack on family planning and birth control.

The first issue in which I will be exploring is a critique of recycling. At this point in time, America’s waste is 75% recyclable material, yet only around 30% of it actually gets recycled. This has a lot to do with the societal indifference to recycling; it’s not always convenient or in our stream of consciousness, so we collectively don’t do it. But it’s not only the average person’s fault, it actually has a lot to do with the institution of waste disposal as a whole. Often it is not entirely clear what materials are recyclable, where to take certain materials to be recycled, or it ma even be that there is not a market for a certain recyclable material. It is in this last point where I find my specific issue. As a person who likes makeup (and buys a lot of it), as well as a decently environmentally conscious person, I always find myself conflicted on what to do with a cosmetics container after I finish all the product. Most plastic compacts and glass foundation bottles are made of pretty hefty material, something that to the touch is obviously is going to be in a landfill for a long time. I can concern myself however much I want over this, but it doesn’t change the fact that there is nothing on a systematic level I can do about it. I have no other choice than to throw it away to pollute the earth because there is simply no other option. While there are some recycling incentive programs from makeup companies– MAC being the only one I can think of that will give you a free product for used up packaging– they are few and far between. It has been found that women will spend an average of fifteen thousand dollars on makeup in their lifetime, making for a lot of waste that could be recycled and repurposed.

The environmental effects of industrialized food systems is the second issue I am going to explore. As with recycling, I observe that a lot of people are very passive about their food; they eat without thinking about where their food came from and how it came to be. This is concerning in effects of power, health, and the environment. In consideration of power, only 6 companies control most everything having to do with agriculture, every brand of food, thusly choking out local farmers. With so much power being controlled by so few, food production is controlled and manipulated without much intervention or say, and often without the public knowing anything about it. In consideration of health, the nutrients found in food have declined as a sacrifice for high yields in industrialized agriculture. Pesticides have been found to impose health risks, as well as the antibiotics found in meat can lead to the production of antibiotic resistant bacteria in humans. The way in which large agricultural companies are sacrificing the health of the consumers in order to produce more is a concerning issue. Additionally, it is crucial to look at the environmental impacts of industrialized food sources. With the excessive size of agriculture and the fertilizers and pesticides used in the fields, there is a disregard for soil and water quality. In factory farming, confined areas house hundreds of animals in poor conditions enable a complete disregard of animal welfare. All in all, the industrialized approach to food that has a stronghold in America imposes a large threat in multiple areas. It is not a sustainable approach to food, but the institutionalization of it makes it hard to avoid or combat– but not impossible. This, then, makes the issue of promoting sustainable food sourcing; by being aware of the institutionalization of food and choosing to buy from local sources will make for a positive impact on public health and the environment.

The third issue I will be exploring is family planning and the necessity for affordable and accessible birth control. With the era of Trump unfortunately upon us, it is a well known fact that republican politicians are determined on making abortion illegal, as already shown by Trump reinstating the “global gag rule” for abortion. This gag rule spans internationally, barring federal funding from organizations that provide or “promote” abortion as a pregnancy alternative. Basically, a federally funded doctor cannot tell a woman about abortion as an option, nor can they refer her to abortion providers. But if republicans are so adamant about ending abortion, why are they also so obsessed with the action of shutting down every preventionary birth control method? Another well known fact is that Planned Parenthood is under attack and at high risk of being defunded, but it is also the most used facility across the nation that women got to for family planning and pregnancy prevention? Not only does Planned Parenthood offer cancer screenings, STI testing, and information counseling, but they also offer affordable birth control options to millions of women across America. But to the government, none of this matters because they also perform abortions– though it is only 3% of their utilized services. Targeting Planned Parenthood is a direct attack on a womans autonomy and health, making it an immediate issue.

The issue I am choosing to delve into for the rest of the semester is the attack on birth control and the necessity for family planning. I chose to pursue this topic because it is a very immediate problem that is very personal to me and a lot of other women. This issue is related to the three P’s of sustainability as it affects people, the planet, and with better governmental logistics, will not have an effect on profit. In the first consideration, the government’s imposition on family planning is a direct attack on people. With the defunding of these programs, specifically Planned Parenthood, accessibility and affordability for contraceptives will be eliminated for a large population of women; lower income families will be most affected by this, demonstrating a classist attack on an already at-risk population. Planned Parenthood and those that provide services like them make life safer, and even save lives on a day to day basis, showing family planning and birth control’s strong effect on people. Next, the planet is already plagued by overpopulation; by not preventing and then forcing the birth of unwanted children, America’s population and resource depletion will happen at an accelerated rate. Thirdly, profit. By eliminating access to contraceptives and abortion services, you are imposing a huge financial burden on women and families, especially those who can hardly afford to live themselves. The cost of a hospital stay to give birth can be anywhere from eight- to sixteen-thousand dollars, even with insurance. That isn’t even taking in mind the prenatal services that are required, nor the ~three-hundred thousand dollars it takes to raise a child over eighteen years. On top of that, the only benefit of cutting the five-hundred million dollar federal funding of Planned Parenthood (aside from the sideways Christian-influenced position on protecting a lump of cells up until the point of birth in which the government no longer cares about your life, cough) is that the government can now use that money towards the ~six-hundred billion already invested in defense. Financially, cutting federal funding from family planning services is classist and just simply does not make sense in the broad scheme of federal budgeting.

I intend to explore this issue throughout the semester by keeping up with and researching the Trump administration’s decisions on this topic, and making sure others are informed as well. The challenges that I might experience include ethical disagreement on stances of abortion, as well as the looming reality that Trump and his administration is going to do whatever he wants with a woman’s body, whether he has the support of women or not, and how to move forward with that in mind to enact change.

Columbus To-Do List Part 2

On the second part of my Columbus To-Do List, I visited Whit’s Frozen Custard Ice Cream Shop, 39 Below, Johnson’s Real Ice Cream, and Pistachia Vera.

Whit’s Frozen Custard is a really cute, simple ice cream shop. The inside was nothing special nor terribly inviting, but the custard made up for it. The img_3058menu was concise, having only two staple flavors- vanilla and chocolate- and a series of daily seasonal and special flavors in addition to a handful of sundaes. The daily flavors keep things fresh, and this short list of options streamlined the favorites which I, as someone that has a very difficult time making decisions, really appreciated. Being a purist, I got the vanilla custard and oh boy was it creamy. The consistency of the custard was amazingly smooth and thick and it was so good. I would definitely recommend this shop to my friends; the custard was delicious and the price point was reasonable enough for a college student to afford.

Another shop I visited was 39 Below. From the outside it was super cute, but the inside of this froyo shop left something to be desired. From the ambiance to the employees, I just got a weird vibe all around but I proceeded to the frozen yogurimg_2867t nonetheless. The selection was very small, there were only like four flavors to choose from; there was also a variety of toppings. Additionally, the shop had some other food items which looked somewhat
resemblant of Chipotle and asian food… not really sure what was going on there. Overall, this shop was very cheap, which was nice, but the price showed through the froyo. It was fine, nothing special or all that good to be honest. Because of this, I will most likely not go back, and I will definitely not be recommending this place to a friend

Next, I went to Johnson’s Real Ice Cream. Despite how far away this ice cream shop was, I really enjoyed it. It was quaint; it gave off an old-timey country, general store vibe. There weren’t a lot of people there, but the employees were really nice. We saw some 10 year olds on a double date as well, which really added to the ambiance. Anyways, to the ice cream- it was really good! The selection of flavors was impressive, and after a good amount of deliberation I img_6659got a scoop of the Buckeye Fever. I really enjoyed the ice cream, it was creamy and the peanut buttery, chocolatey flavor was enjoyable; but in my opinion it wasn’t anything that special. Though I enjoyed my experience, given it is so far away it wouldn’t be my first suggestion to go back to or recommend to a friend.

The last place I visited for my to-do list was Pistachia Vera in German Village. This place was INSANELY nice. With a french bakery vibe, the space was super fancy and elegant. But, as to be expected, to go along with such an ambiance the prices were a bit on the expensive side. However, the selectionimg_6678 was expansive; there were a lot of different cakes and pastries to choose from, including a wide variety of macaroons. My friends and I opted to get a few different of these macaroons to try out. I got the buckeye flavored one, which I cannot sing enough praises about. I would love to come back to Pistachia Vera sometime to try the other goodies they have, because they all looked so delicious. I would definitely recommend this pastry shop to a friend.

Looking back on this Columbus to-do list activity, I learned a good amount about the city from going around these different desert shops. I noticed the population of younger, hipper individuals in this city that run and go to these cute specialty shops, as well as learned about the diversity in the food options and cultures in the city. I think my favorite experience from this exploration was Rocketfizz. Though it did not have good ice cream or pastries like I got at the other shops I went to, the personality and selection in this shop was so fun, and I really enjoyed checking it out with my friends. Because I did have a lot of fun throughout these experiences, it has led me to consider venturing into checking out locations around the city that on other to-do lists, such as the coffee and tea shops. I feel like Columbus has a lot to offer and it would be silly to be passive about all the cool stuff and places that are in it.

For someone endeavoring to complete the same list, I would definitely recommend doing research on all the places before choosing the ones you want to do. I found that the only ones I didn’t look into that much were the ones I enjoyed the least. Also, be aware of the price range of the shops you’re going to, because it can get pretty expensive given a college budget.

I had a great time completing this ice cream and deserts to-do list and exploring Columbus!

Career Exploration

In our last meeting, we talked about the RIASEC  classification system in relation to our paths in career exploration, given our personal skill sets. To start off, I found that right now I am in the Self Assessment phase of career exploration; I am terribly confused and undecided in consideration of a future career. I am struggling in finding a subject area to pursue, primarily because I do not know what I am interested in or as soon as I think I do it becomes very forced. In this way, I was hoping that the RIASEC test would provide some guidance. In class, I chose the letters S (social), C (conventional), and I (investigative). I chose S because I do find that I get along with most people I meet; my nature is to be very empathetic toward others, and because of this I enjoy working face to face with people and helping them. I chose C because I am not often one to go outside of the box; I would much rather work with tasks that are clearly outlined and perfect it than come up with my own.  I chose I because following with what I said for E, I am very task oriented and prefer to tackle projects one at a time. I also value knowledge, which is another reason why I chose this letter.  In O*Net, these interest letters gave me career suggestions such as nursing, pharmacists, and various subject teachers. I do not feel like these results are accurate, because I feel little to no excitement or connection to these career suggestions.

Because I didn’t trust my self assessment of the letters of the RIASEC test we did in class, and wanted a real read on it as a hopeful grasp on what I should do with my life, I also took an online version which concluded that I fell into S (social), E (enterprising), and C (conventional) interests– not far off from what I manually chose. However, I do believe that the slight shift in a letter more accurately captures the way I work in the world. As to was not my personal choice, the letter E is something I had to question; I’m not one to sell or exhaustively assert my ideas or products, and quite frankly the thought of that makes me extremely nervous. Although, in the respect that I do tend to act well in leadership and motivational positions, this letter makes sense accompanied by the other two letters. That being said, with these new results O*Net still recommends careers that are not in my current path, such as a server, attendant, or some miscellaneous customer service or managerial role. These are careers that I definitely would not mind doing, but at the same time they aren’t really careers I’m currently geared toward in my studies right now; some I do not even need to be in school for. I will take these into consideration but I’m not quite sure what to do with them, if i really even need to. I cannot say that I learned many things about myself during this workshop; if anything, it seemed to emphasize the confusion I have in my career explorations.

In this way, my results provide little to no indication of what I have in store for my current career plans, given I have any. I’m not sure what to do with this information in consideration with my career exploration, because I simply do not think that any of my results apply to me, nor appeal to my emotions or interests. I know these personality tests are not a guaranteed way to pin down a career, because discovering what you’re willing to spend your life on is more than a simple classification code. Nor are these results setting in stone what I should or should not be doing in my life, but really I was hoping that they would provide at least a little more comfort in my current decisions, or maybe even shine more light on other possibilities. With this conclusion, my next step might be to continue in the Self Assessment phase of career exploration. I could look to further myself in this phase through possibly finding some answers by rethinking my interests and goals in life by evaluating them from a different perspective, as well as further exploring my options and talking to advisors at the university to keep my options and mind open in hopes of finding my dream career.