Ben Stuckey will stare for hours at clown fish, silver dollar and pufferfish poking through coral and weaving through water. He knows which of his fish-friends will be the first to be dinner — Gabriel — and which one will survive while hiding behind his favorite rock — Bashful.

Ben could one day seek a career as a marine biologist. But his parents haven’t started exploring colleges along the Caribbean coast yet.

“Well, he’s only 2,” laughs his mom, Gwen Harrigan, 33, an Ann Arbor project manager. "It's a bit early for career job training."

Ben’s love for aquariums is a toddler's activity that might owe more to the Disney blockbuster "Finding Nemo" than anything else, she adds.

Still, Harrigan and her husband, Bryant Stuckey, keep an eye out for their son’s passions and actively encourage them. Stuckey, 32, recalls fiddling around in the kitchen and whipping up dinners for his two brothers when he was as young as 8 years old. Now he owns a catering company specializing in wedding cakes.

The American School Counselor Association encourages parents to take that kind of active role in their children’s lives. That’s the first of family ideas that help students figure out the answer to the most popular question of all: What do you want to be when you grow up?

“It’s never too early to start identifying kids’ interests,” said Carmen Bieske, a guidance counselor at Hanover-Horton High School, in Hanover, Michigan. “Certainly, kids change their minds several times.”

College Options

There are many paths open to the almost 3 million kids who graduate high school each year.
What could your child do?

  • Attend a four-year college, choosing from hundreds of majors ranging from anthropology to music, from education to pre-law.
  • Choose a shorter vocational or trade program in fields including electronics, automotive technology, phlebotomy (learning to draw blood from medical patients) and construction.
  • Earn a two-year degree at a community college in majors such as hospitality management, nursing or computer programming. Or students can knock out basic requirements before transferring to a bachelor’s program at a four-year college — a path thousands of students take.
  • Enlist in the U.S. military, which offers on-the-job training and funding for college.

College choice is a hot topic at kitchen tables across the country - and every conversation is different because every child is different. "What's right for one kid isn't right for his lab partner," said Bieske. Like many schools, Hanover-Horton has students complete a career inventory in 8th grade as a road map for high school and beyond.

I'll have students who are really into cars or theatre," she said. "The challenge is to help them set realistic career goals and figure out the best classes to take."

"Parents play a key role in helping their kids with decision-making and goal setting," Bieske said. "If your daughter has her heart set on attending a well-known, top-tier school, you can help steer her into taking a rigorous college prep course load to meet the school's requirements, even if calculus isn't her first love."

To some degree, what students can do depends on their grades and family finances, Bieske notes. But families shouldn't limit their choices just because they can't pay the sticker price. Consider this - college graduates typically make about $1 million more in lifetime earnings than high school graduates. Most people would consider this a strong return on investment, and there are plenty of financial aid options including loans, scholarships, grants and work-study plans that help millions of students achieve their college graudation goals every year.

Four Students, Four Different Paths

With so many options facing kids, EduGuide spoke to four recent high-school graduates. Here, they talk about the path they chose and what they wish they had known when they were making up their minds.

DEKYRA LOVE, 19, phlebotomy technician certificate program, Lansing Community College

At age 9, Dekyra Love hung her teddy bear sheets from the bedposts to create the perfect doctor’s office. Clipboard in hand, Love called each Barbie doll’s name and treated her for broken bones, the stomach flu or any other illness of the moment.

“I’ve always loved kids and wanted to be around kids and help them,” said Love, who frequently babysat two younger siblings.

Since graduating this year from J.W. Sexton High School in Lansing, she’s enrolled in Lansing Community College’s 16-week phlebotomy technician certificate program, where she’s learning how to draw blood. Love’s goal is to land a job as a phlebotomist at Ingham Regional Medical Center, eventually earning enough money to pay for a nursing degree.

“It’s very hands-on — a real fast-paced program,” she said.

Love said she didn’t receive much guidance in high school, but her mother and aunt both encouraged her to work in the medical field. She designed her own class schedule and picked a vocational program close to home.

“I’ve always been a very self-motivated person,” she said.

TARA SWEET, 20, practical nursing major, Lansing Community College

When Tara Sweet walks into a room, she knows exactly what color to slap on the walls and what corner to lean the bookshelf against. She’s the one her grandmother calls when she needs to redo her kitchen.

Sweet started out in the interior design program in 2004 at Lansing Community College, a logical choice only a half-hour from her job and home. This fall, she switched to nursing after talking it over with her mom.

“There are a lot more job opportunities,” she explained. “With interior design, you’re self-employed and it can be hard to find clients.”

Sweet spent most of her time at Danville High School in Danville, Michigan “taking every art class they had,” but now wishes she had spent more time in the science lab. She’s set a goal of finishing her nursing degree by 2008.

“I wish I would have started out in it — I would have been done faster,” Sweet said. “But I’ve really enjoyed college. It’s way better than high school.”

SHAINA LOSEY, 19, graphic design major, Saginaw Valley State University

Colored pencils and paintbrushes found their way into Shaina Losey’s grip from the time she was 6. Her parents always stocked up on sketchbooks, but they made sure she also brought home A’s and B’s across the board.

Dad Randy Losey works as a car salesman and mom Michel is a church secretary. Neither went to college, so they scrimped and saved to give their daughter that chance.

“I can’t ever remember really ever thinking I wasn’t going to college,” said Shaina Losey, a 2006 graduate of Corunna High School in Corunna, “just like I can’t remember not wanting to be an artist.”

Losey’s school counselor tried to steer her into education, advising her it would be more practical. But with the support of her parents, Losey settled on nearby Saginaw Valley State University, which sports a solid art department and low tuition.

A graphic art major, Losey said her SVSU adviser is guiding her toward internships to prime her for jobs with magazines post-graduation.

“My parents aren’t concerned that I’ll get a good job,” she said. “They think it’s a good idea that I do something I love.”

TERESA VIGMOSTAD, 19, Petty Officer 3rd Class, U.S. Navy
Teresa Vigmostad was sitting in a class her senior year in high school while students tried to one-up each other over who was going to the best college. “I said I was going into the Navy,” Vigmostad recalled, “and the teacher looked at me and said, ‘But aren’t you smart?’”
With a high grade-point average and killer ACT scores, Vigmostad was used to that reaction at Brighton High School, located in an affluent Detroit suburb. But after considering colleges like Michigan State University, she realized she was searching for a different challenge after high school. Her family encouraged her.
“I knew I wanted to get out of Michigan,” Vigmostad said. “It was good job training and I’d get to see the world and do it for free.”
After completing boot camp in Illinois and sonar training in San Diego, Vigmostad started a new career in November as a sonar technician. “It’s like The Hunt for Red October, she explained about what she’ll be doing once she’s aboard her ship, the U.S.S McFaul, which sails to European ports. Vigmostad plans to get advanced degrees using Navy tuition assistance.
“A lot of people don’t understand what the military is really like,” Vigmostad said. “It’s definitely made me more independent.”


Susan J. Demas is a 2006 Knight Foundation fellow in nonprofits journalism and a contributing editor to EduGuide.