While some students will not choose to pursue extensive higher education or continued formal learning, they will know those options exist, and they’ll know what opportunities those options may offer. As they get older and new life choices present themselves, such as marriage and having children, they’ll have a solid grounding in reality as their values inevitably evolve.

And some teens may decide to pursue college degrees, even advanced degrees, and not just for the money. They’ll begin to develop goals and aspirations, clearer ideas and dreams about what they want to accomplish and how they want to contribute.

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This continuing development may include on the job training, technical college, or more formal university education. Whatever path they choose and whatever options life offers them, they’ll better understand those critical connections between educational choices, jobs, employment, and careers, income, and what amenities and lifestyles those salaries will offer.

 

Introduction to Independent Life – Part 4 of 5

CLICK to view the Reality Road Map.

White Collar Work & the White Circle

When you make the commitment to finish college, you move up to the white circle, where people are generally referred to as white-collar workers. People who earn a 2-year associates degree or a 4-year bachelors degree generally work with their minds. They can become engineers, teachers, nurses and accountants. They start at higher rates of pay and can afford to live better than the blue-collar workers. They get more vacation time, drive a newer car, and can afford things like a boat or a motor home.Click directly on the True Life Chart to find the answers to these questions:

The education for a person in the WHITE circle is

People who graduate from college are generally called

White collar workers usually work with their

And white collar workers often make more than

Give three examples of a white collar worker from the True Life Chart:

White collar worker example 2

White collar worker example 3

An example gross salary from the WHITE circle is

Explain what the WHITE circle means to you.

Professional Work & the Green Circle

If you finish college and go on to advanced professional studies, you move up to the green circle. You can become a specialist like a doctor, dentist or airline pilot. In these professions, you work with your hands and your mind and have the opportunity to earn a high income. Having more expensive things like an finer car, a big house, a sailboat and extended vacations, plus the honor of doing specialized or technical work, are some of the rewards for being a professional.

Workers in the GREEN circle are usually called

The education for a person in the GREEN circle is

Give three examples of a professional’s job or career.

Professional worker example 2

Professional worker example 3

An example gross salary from the GREEN circle is

Explain what the GREEN circle means to you.

Journal: The Working World

In the space below, write some personal notes on what you’ve learned about the working world. Any surprises? Any worries?

Click on My Journal Summary on the Course main page to see all your Journal notes.

Conclusion

Look at the Reality Road Map again, and consider…

The options are yours. You can even choose to fail. If you choose not to fail, then you, along with every other human being, have to find your place on the Road Map. Look at the circles again: which one do you want to be in? Which of the circles of education on the Road Map represents the life you want to have for yourself?

Put the Road Map on your wall, door or some place where you can look at it every day. It will be a visual reminder that helps you understand that you are an individual with the freedom to be the person you choose to be.