1 . For average working people, they normally change their career five to seven times throughout their whole lives.     1    Without that, you are just a dreamer.

It happens that you neglect thinking about your career when you are busy, but you must spend time considering your current situation and your ideal career path to develop a specific career plan.    2    

When you have a better understanding of yourself and what you want, you are more likely to take a plan that suits your goals and lifestyle. By this kind of self-reflection, you will discover the type of career you want.

    3    You probably need SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound to prepare for success. Studies prove that SMART goals work better when they are written down and shared with others. Sharing enhances your senses of responsibility while writing down allows you to commit them to memory. Therefore, you can always have access to them because they are kept in your subconscious.

Now that you have understood what you want and had your goals set and written down, it’s time to make career decisions.    4    And then think about how each path lines up with your values. Finally, evaluate how they could influence your future.

So how do you feel when talking about your career? Do you want to stay where you are or are you ready to make a change to take steps to achieve success?    5    

2 . The Summer Volun Teen Program

This program at Brevard Zoo is a 10-week seasonal position that runs from May 31 through early August. Once selected into the program, Volun Teens will receive 2 days of training on the first weekend of May, 2021. Upon the competition of training, Volun Teens will be given their official assignments ( 10 days minimum, or 2 weeks of full day camp). Schedules vary, but most assignments run from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Volun Teens may sign up for additional days as they choose.

Important requirements

The program is for teens between the ages of 13 to 17 who are interested in working with the public. Applicants must be 13 years old by April 1, 2021. And they are supposed to know well about various animals and their living habits. Once accepted, Volun Teens must pay dues of $ 25.00. This covers the costs of a teen manual (手册), a T-shirt and various supplies. Volun Teens are also required to participate in a conservation event.

Volun Teen positions are temporary, however, interested teens are encouraged to apply for the full Zoo Teen Program in the fall. Volun Teen participants are allowed to miss two of their assigned volunteer days to account for summer vacations. On the third miss, Volun Teens may be dismissed from the program. Besides, the program doesn’t provide make-up days and it does not allow switching volunteer days with another Volun Teen.   

Benefits

Many students are able to use their volunteer experience to meet the community service requirement for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program. Depending on their school, students may receive credits for their volunteer hours. Volunteers also have the opportunity to work with Education Department staff members and the public, gaining valuable skills for a variety of careers. Making new friends, earning potential employment references, gaining lots of experience and a sense of accomplishment are just a few more reasons to apply!

3 . For as long as I can remember, I want to be a performer. But when it was time to go to college and decide what I wanted to be for the rest of my life, it didn’t occur to me to choose drama as my major. Making a living as a performer seems impractical to me. So instead of starting drama I started pre-law, and then went to law school like my two sisters did before me. They seemed happy enough, I thought; they worked about 80 hours a week, but they made good money and could afford expensive cars and fancy apartments in the city.

After law school I got a new job and worked as a lawyer for a big company. I had great benefits, including four weeks of vacation a year, but I never got to use any of my vacation time because there was always too much work to do. I worked from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week, and when I was finished, all I could do was collapse into my bed until I woke up to do it all over again the next day.

After five years of this lifestyle, I thought I was going to go crazy. I was unhappy and exhausted, I never saw my friends or my family, and I realized I hadn’t been in a play or musical since I started law school. I thought that acting in a small community play might make me feel better, but rehearsals and performances all took place during my work hours. So I made a drastic decision and quit my job.

I got a small part in a local play and then the lead role. Now I make my living from acting, and once in a while, I do some legal consulting for a little extra money. I don’t get paid a lot for my acting jobs, but it’s enough. I had to give up my big apartment and expensive car, but I’m so much happier now. I see my friends and family, I have free time,and I get to do something I love every day.

7 . Leia was fresh out of college when she began working as a member of a business-development team at a company. Though her skills had earned her the job, she was the youngest person in the team. “Everybody else was pretty much twice my age,” she says. “I exhibited” too much ambition’ in the eyes of my superiors. I heard about comments being made behind my back. There were even a couple of times when my superiors referred to my age right in front of me, saying I was too young: “What does a 23-year-old know about these things?”

Leia tried to change her appearance at work. “I changed the way I dressed. I tried to dress older, more ‘ladylike’. I changed my mannerisms and tried to act older,” she says. “It worked, to an extent.” The comments about her age and inexperience lessened, but Leia says she still felt like her growth potential was limited. She left the company soon after.

What Leia experienced was ageism, traditionally seen as something only older people face. For instance, older workers might be judged based on assumptions that they won’t fit into a progressive office or learn technology quickly. A US study showed that nearly two-thirds of workers aged 45 and older had seen or experienced age discrimination. But younger workers face age discrimination, too. In fact, new research shows it may actually be the youngest team members who are bearing the brunt of workplace ageism right now, potentially impacting their careers.

Leia says removing ageism entirely will ultimately require a fundamental change to corporate culture, which has long tied seniority to skill. “We prize years of experience a little too much, and I don’t think years of experience and skill are necessarily correlated,” she says. “Steve Jobs was 21 when he founded Apple. We don’t know how much younger people actually have to contribute. Hopefully, more employers are realizing it.”

8 . Volunteer abroad with the UN

Are you ready to become an international UN Volunteer? You can contribute your time, skills and knowledge through volunteering with the UN. This is an opportunity to create a positive impact and be a significant force for achieving peace and development. Make a difference to the lives of many!

Why volunteer with the UN

•International UN Volunteers promote peace and development in communities around the globe, while upholding the ideals and ambitions of the United Nations.

•Your international UN Volunteer assignment will make a lasting impact. It can create a ripple effect that extends far beyond the immediate results of your efforts.

•As an international UN Volunteer, you will learn about different cultures, expand your networks, study foreign languages and gain matchless professional and life experiences.

Requirements

•The minimum requirements to serve as an international UN Volunteer are: 25 years old and older (no upper age limit); university degree or higher technical diploma;

•At least two years of relevant work experience in a professional background; good working knowledge of English, Spanish or French;

•Ability to adjust in difficult living conditions and sometimes remote locations; strong interpersonal and organizational skills.

Conditions of Service

•International UN Volunteer assignments generally run for six to 12 months, with the possibility of extending for one to two years.

•Short-term assignments are also requested by our partners from time to time. International UN Volunteers are entitled to certain allowances.   

•The purpose of allowances for volunteers is to enable them to sustain a secure standard of living in their duty stations.

9 . When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.

Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note — “Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery” — and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.

All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.

There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.

Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊) . Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.

10 . Real financial security and freedom is not in our job but in our passion. It’s easy to define and evaluate a man by his pursuit. Joseph Campbell once said, “Follow your dream and the universe will open doors where there are only walls.”

In life, we’ll always be found doing any of these two things: either making a living or making a difference. Pensions (养老金) and salaries stop many from pursuing excellence while passion unlocks hidden potentials that equip us for challenges and opportunities. A job helps us make a living while passion enables us to make a difference.

I want to sincerely help to adjust and clarify the misguided belief among workers that a job is a means of livelihood. Rather, it should be a means to fuel our passion. The earlier you realize this basic truth of life, the more clearly you’ll be able to position yourself in living a life of impact and value.

The success of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) shows how meaningful it is to pursue your passion instead of your pension. Its founder, Colonel Harland Sanders, didn’t realize this until he was given his first social security check of 105 dollars. But he decided that there surely was something to do for himself and other people instead of living on that small pension. He was determined to engage himself in what brought him impact and value. Drawing inspiration from his mother’s special recipe for fried chicken, he invented “finger-licking” seasoning with eleven spices and herbs. Despite much rejection, he managed to round up some investors and promote company’s rapid expansion to more than 6,000 locations. Sanders’ life pointed towards two facts about making a difference: one, there is no age that is too old to make a difference; two, there is nothing too small or insignificant to make a difference with, as long as it is your passion.