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Experiential learning resources for the innovative educator
“What do you want to do after high school?”
It’s an important question, but it’s also a huge one. Let's dive into how a teacher or parent might scaffold this pretty massive undertaking, which is essentially asking them to have a PLAN FOR LIFE at 18 years old.
Key Takeaways:
So how do we really tackle the question of, "What do you want to do with your life?"
A student might have a career in mind but have no idea what training it requires. They might know where they want to live without knowing what it costs to live there. They might have a clear picture of the lifestyle they want but have never considered whether their expected income could support it. In fact, it's entirely possible that they don't even have a career in mind, know where they want to live, or have a clear picture of the lifestyle they want to build. That’s why I think career and life planning should go beyond choosing a career or completing an interest inventory. Students need opportunities to connect the pieces: What do I want my life to look like? What will it take to get there? What will it cost? Does my plan work in the real world? And what can I start doing about it now? Here are some of the pieces I include when working through career and life planning with high school students. Essential Career and Life Planning Pieces for Life After High School
1. Start With the Life They Want
Career planning often begins with a question like, “What do you want to be?”
Try starting bigger. What does the student want their life to look like after high school and into adulthood? Career is certainly part of that, but so are housing, transportation, location, finances, independence, personal priorities, and goals. Give students a chance to think about the bigger picture before they start researching the logistics. They aren't committing to this vision forever. They're simply creating a direction they can investigate. That distinction matters. The goal of career and life planning isn't to predict the future. It's to give students practice planning for one.
2. Research What It Will Take to Get There
Once students have some direction, they can start investigating what their plans would require.
If a student has a career goal:
This is where a vague future starts becoming a plan. Students aren't simply saying, “I want to do this someday.” They're figuring out what doing it would involve. Whenever possible, have students work with real information. Research actual programs. Look at actual requirements. Find current costs. Investigate real opportunities. Career and life planning becomes much more meaningful when students are working with possibilities that could genuinely become part of their lives.
3. Put Real Numbers Behind the Plan
Looking at the numbers for real, in real life, in real time, is one of my favorite parts of career and life planning for high school students because reality enters the conversation pretty quickly.
Have students research actual costs rather than handing them a list of imaginary expenses. If they're considering an apartment, for example, let them find a real one. If their plan involves owning a car, have them investigate the costs associated with that choice. Then students can build a budget around the life they've planned. Suddenly, career and life planning isn't an abstract conversation about adulthood. They're working through the same kinds of decisions adults make every day.
4. Find Out Whether the Plan Works
Finding out whether the plan works is where things get especially interesting.
Students may discover that the pieces of their original plan don't quite fit together. Maybe the apartment they chose is too expensive for their projected income. Maybe their career requires more training than they realized. Maybe transportation costs significantly change their budget. Maybe they discover an expense they hadn't considered at all. That's not a failed plan. That's the point of the experience. Give students opportunities to identify the gaps, constraints, and challenges in their plans and then figure out what they could change. Could they choose different housing? Adjust another expense? Increase their income? Change their timeline? Research another option? Real-life planning requires flexibility, problem-solving, and decision-making. Students need opportunities to practice all three.
5. Turn Long Term Goals Into Next Steps
A plan for five or ten years from now isn't especially useful if students don't know what to do with it today.
Once students understand what their goals require, help them work backward.
Depending on the student and their plans, those steps might involve researching a program more deeply, applying for something, building a skill, preparing materials, making a connection, gaining experience, or gathering information they still need. The specific next steps will look different for every student, and that's exactly what makes this type of career and life planning valuable.
6. Give Students Something They Can Keep Using
I don't want students to spend weeks thinking deeply about their futures only for all of that work to disappear into a pile of completed assignments. Their research, budget, goals, timeline, resources, and next steps should become something useful.
Encourage students to organize what they've learned into a plan or portfolio they can revisit as circumstances change. Because they will change. A student's first plan doesn't need to become their life. The lasting value comes from learning how to research possibilities, work with real information, evaluate feasibility, make adjustments, and take action. Those skills will matter no matter where they end up.
Career and Life Planning Can Be Student-Led Without Being Vague
One challenge with an experience this open-ended is figuring out how much guidance to give.
Every student's plan will be different. That's a good thing. But “Go plan your future!” isn't enough direction for most students. They need a clear process. That's why I created my Life Planning System for High School Students. 
It walks students step-by-step through the career and life planning process, from thinking about the future they want to researching what it will take, working through real costs and finances, identifying challenges, making adjustments, and planning their next steps.
The structure is built in, but the decisions aren't made for them. Students research their goals, their options, their costs, and their next steps. That gives them the scaffolding they need to move forward independently without taking the ownership out of the experience. Ultimately, that's what I want from career and life planning. Students don't need to leave the experience with their entire future figured out. They need to leave knowing a little more about what they want, a lot more about what it will take to get there, and what they can do next. If you want to see what this career and life planning system looks like in practice, check out my Life Planner for High School Students. In the preview, you can take a look at real student life plans to see how differently this experience can unfold from one student to the next, and what career and life planning can look like when students make it their own.
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Blog IntentTo provide innovative educational resources for educators, parents, and students, that go beyond lecture and worksheets. AuthorSara Segar, experiential life-science educator and advisor, curriculum writer, and mother of two. 
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