Your Academic Program and Your Life’s Purpose

After you have completed your initial post, respond to at least two of your peers’ posts and provide substantive feedback on their initial responses. Consider their focus of interest and reasons for investigating those topic areas. What insights can you share about their areas of interest? What suggestions do you have for resources in those areas? To what extent do these topic areas also interest you?

Response # 1

The Career Planning Self-Assessment suggested several areas in which I could revisit to gain full competency. The checklist stated that I should revisit the following tools to reach full potential in the job searching process: exploration and planning, connecting with others, job search tools, and career enrichment. I completely agree with the suggestions from the assessment, specifically the categories that discuss connecting with others and job search tools. I would like to learn more about the potential job opportunities that I have in my area by branching out on social media and other job search tools. I tend to play with safe when it comes to the job searching process, taking the first decent job that comes my way. As I have gotten older, I have come to value my abilities and myself more and more. I believe that the next time I am on the hunt for a new job, I will be able to be more confident and selective.

My greatest area of interest in this course revolves around the older adult aging process. Unit 4 appears to go into great detail on the adult aging process in reference to the ecology of aging and the relationship between individuals and the environment. This topic is of great interest to me being that I work with a relatively large geriatric population on a daily basis. Possible research topics that I would like to explore include: presenting symptoms of chronic mental illness along with dementia/neurocognitive disorders, parenting styles in relation to mental illness in adolescents, mental illness in first generation immigrants, and the effects of playing collegiate sports on mental health. I am specifically interested in researching collegiate sports in relation to underlying mental illness. The evidence of over training has grown in recent years to at least 60% reported; along with subsequent burnout of athletes performing at elite levels is increased (Hughes, 2012). I am interested in the above-mentioned topics for a variety of reasons. First, I am aware that all of these topics are vastly different. I work with a variety of individuals, older adults, chronic mental illness, and even adolescents. There are specific clients or instances that have sparked my interest in each of these research areas. I believe that their stories have stuck with me and are driving my curiosity to delve deeper into these topics.

Within the human behavior profession, I strive to be a counselor (fully licensed within the next two years) and eventually an adjunct professor. My ideal dream job would be to have a part-time private practice along with a part-time teaching job. I believe that it would be incredibly fulfilling to aid in the journey of future counselors or other individuals in the human behavior profession.

Reponse # 2