[nabs-l] What I Think I Want To Do...More Questions...

Sun Jun 9 03:19:01 UTC 2013

Hello Kerri,

I would echo what Arielle has already said. I think you already have a good 
plan in terms of pursuing your career goals. I also think it can be rather 
daunting to look too far into the future, so settling on some short-term 
goals can definitely make things more manageable.

If you are looking to discover your own unique talents and skill set, I 
believe there were a few good exercises in the book "What Color Is Your 
Parachute?"  by Richard Bolles. I believe this book can be found on both the 
NLS download site as well as Bookshare. I found it to be a rather worthwhile 
read.

In terms of struggling with your self-esteem and self-motivation, I offer 
the following thoughts and suggestions. However, please note that I am by no 
means an expert when it comes to these things as I struggle with some of the 
same issues myself. But here are a few thoughts that came to mind as I was 
reading through your message.

You say that it is easier for you to do things for other people than it is 
to do things for yourself. With this in mind, perhaps you could think of at 
least one thing you could do for someone else you greatly admire and 
respect, and then picture yourself as this person, or the person you hope to 
be in the future. Instead of seeing yourself doing it for yourself, picture 
yourself doing it for who you will be in the future rather than for 
yourself.

In terms of finding the motivation to get started on something that might 
seem overwhelming, perhaps you could simply see things as a possible 
opportunity rather than some lifelong career choice. If there are possible 
volunteer opportunities to work in the fields you are considering as a 
career choice, it might not seem so daunting when you are only doing it for 
a couple of weeks or months rather than the rest of your life.

I would also suggest making an appointment with a career councilor or 
advisor if you have a career center on campus as well as an academic advisor 
or councilor in the subject areas you are interested in pursuing. . A career 
advisor may be able to help you find volunteer opportunities as well as 
possible professionals in various careers that match your interest that you 
could interview for advice and motivation.

An academic advisor or counselor can help you break down your long-term 
goals into shorter more manageable goals by suggesting what classes might be 
the most helpful in pursuing your long-term career goals. You could also ask 
your college if they provide any kind of community education classes that 
might help you with your self-esteem issues or career planning. Since you do 
not have a local community college in your area, they may or may not provide 
these types of classes. However, the only way to find out is to ask.

Again, I am not an expert by any means, but I hope you find some of these 
ideas helpful. And one last thing, the NFB also has a journalism group. I am 
not sure how active their email list may be, but the co-chairs are listed in 
the convention agenda. Perhaps they might be willing to sit down and talk to 
you at national convention provided that all parties involved will be there.

But anyway, I think it is high time for me to close this novel of a post. I 
wish you the best of luck in carving out the dreams for your future.

Best regards,
Elizabeth

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Kerri Kosten" <kerrik2006 at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 08, 2013 7:02 PM
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>; "Ed McDonald" <ed at eioproductions.com>; "karen" 
<karen at eioproductions.com>
Subject: [nabs-l] What I Think I Want To Do...More Questions...

> Hi Everyone:
>
> Last night, I did some more thinking. I believe I have come up with a
> plan, and thought I'd share to get everyone's thoughts. I decided to
> change the subject line.
> The problem is I don't know what my passion is. I suffer from very
> very low self-esteem and lack belief/confidence in myself. As I said
> in my previous message, I have no problems doing things for someone
> else, but when it comes to myself and what I want to do this is where
> I majorly struggle.
> My other problem is that because of lack of confidence when I think of
> my interests I question myself and convince myself out of it. There is
> a difference between just liking something and actually doing it for a
> career and being good at it.
> Maybe I just don't know what I am really good at.
> Okay, here are my interests and potential career plan.
> My interests are sports, braille, rehabilitation counseling,
> rehabilitation teaching, journalism, reading, writing, and
> communications.
> Here is what I was thinking.
> I really love sports. When I went to WVU before, I was a journalism
> major because I thought I wanted to be a sportswriter.
> I was thinking I'd finish my journalism degree. I say journalism
> because I feel it could teach me a lot of transferable skills that
> could help me in other areas and I could learn to become a better
> writer. I could also try to better figure out whether I want to
> actually be a sportswriter.
> My top interests besides sports are rehabilitation counseling,
> rehabilitation teaching, and braille. I figured if after I got my
> journalism degree, I could get my master's in either rehabilitation
> counseling, rehabilitation teaching, or teaching blind students.
> I need to probably say I've never had any real experiences teaching,
> but I am an excellent braille reader, and with there being such a
> shortage with braille teachers I figure I could do something with
> that.
> The same with rehabilitation teaching. While I have no experience with
> teaching, again, I do have skills and figure I could teach them.
> I became interested in rehabilitation counseling when I joined the
> NFB. I became very passionate about seeing blind people reach their
> full potential and getting the training they need.
> I also have severe hearing loss in addition to my blindness so I am
> also passionate about seeing others who have severe hearing loss in
> addition to blindness reach their full potential.
> My problem is though, I have no trouble writing or speaking about
> these interests but when it comes to doing things/taking action I
> struggle and become nervous and lose confidence in myself and then
> convince myself I can't do it.
> I can talk the talk but when it comes to walking the walk I have no
> idea and that is where I lose confidence in myself and become
> negative.
> Does what I wrote above sound like a good plan?
> Do others struggle with this whole thing about being afraid and unsure
> when it comes to taking action and convincing yourself you can't do
> it?
> In West Virginia, we do not have a community college. I live in the
> same town as West Virginia University, which is the state landgrand
> institution.
> I am no longer in high school;I graduated in 2006.
> Thanks so much for your input and thoughts!
> Kerri
>
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