The Next Step

2 comments June 19th, 2008

A comment you hear from many in this community is that our youth are not getting the proper training for the jobs that they want, thus we end up with a weak hiring pool.

There are a number of ideas of the root causes of this problem ranging from bad parenting to the lack of support in schools and everything in between. In the meantime, we continue to suffer from students simply not being prepared.

As I have recently been getting ready to send one of mine off to college in a year, it has occurred to me that, perhaps, one of the big reasons our youth have this issue is because their future is so big. What is a next step? It’s like trying to get from Rockford to Anchorage without knowing which way to pull out of your driveway.

We need to work with our youth to let them know what that NEXT step is. It’ll be different for everyone. Is it getting an idea of what kinds of careers appeal to you? Is it learning how to compare schools? Or is it just doing everything in your power to ensure you are in school each and every day.

The next step is the big one. You’re not going to get any further without that one. The final destination is almost impossible to see with each step blocking the view. Like dominoes, as each one falls, the pathway becomes clearer.