Jefferson Veliz                                          Designing My Career  

Introduction and framing the problem  

Is living a design process? In the modern world, getting a higher education has become common, but choosing the right career is a dilemma student and adults encounter by keeping in mind, there is no such thing as a “dream job”. When choosing a college major or a career, students must be smart on their decision. Self-assessment is one of the steps required for students to be able to see their values. Also, the Design Thinking process is an important aspect that can be applied in choosing a major. It is necessary to take our time to do research in order to be aware of our interests, passions, skills, and flow. Before coming to City College, my dream was to become a successful dermatologist. Then, after being exposed into my first real job, my interests in studying psychology expanded. At this moment, the confusions between majors and careers increased. After graduating high school, I had done research for about six months in different careers and majors because I understood the process of choosing the right major takes time and it is crucial; however, there was a problem in my research, which was that I did not have any alternative plans. Enrolling to this course has contributed me to have different backup plans for the future. From the good time journals to choosing a major and a career. The exploratory essay was a great start to start combining my passions, flows, and interest into having multiple solutions when it comes into making a decision to choose a major. Phototyping different majors by networking played a role in getting a sense of what the environments of the fields feel. In addition, the motivation to choose a major or career is beyond obtaining happiness. I come from a family that have high expectations of me. Besides my mom going to college right now, I am the first one in the Veliz’ family to attend college. I view my family as motivation to becoming a successful man, which one day I will be capable of making a difference in the world. Whatever I choose to do, my aspirations will always be based on my family. As a life designer in majors and careers, I am conscious of the next pathways I must acquire to attain success.  

Reflection in yourself  

Throughout the beginning of the class until now, I had gained insights on what careers I want to follow for the rest of my life. The class has provided me a better understanding of myself from the activities that brings joy to me to the activities I dislike. From my good times journals, I noticed when I am socializing with friends or family brings absolute joy to me than being alone. Furthermore, the moments I tend to engage, and experience flow is when it is sport related and when I am playing games requiring critical thinking such as chess. Also based on work experience, while working as a college counselor in high school, I became conscious of always trying to help others before myself. At this moment, I realized that pursuing a career involving people and caring for them was a better choice than trying to major in mathematics or computer science. Based on the interviews I conducted, it was a pleasure hearing their stories about the obstacles they faced to be where they are right now. Professor Carlitos Berlus, advised me about three skills in college I should learn once I graduate, which are public speaking, reading skills and writing skills. In addition, researching careers in Onet was essential to have an idea of the requirements and path I could pursuit in the future. At last, all this design steps assisted me in picking either the physician assistant program while completing a bachelor’s degree of science in psychology or the school psychology program while completing a bachelor’s degree in psychology. I see this as plan A and plan B. Therefore, Plan A is to become a physician assistant and plan B is to become a school psychologist. In other words, if somehow, I am unable to become a physician assistant, I will have a bachelor’s degree in psychology to continue my education in becoming a school psychologist. 

Selection of Majors and design of your college career 

Psychology Is one of the majors that captivates me. I constantly wondered why humans react a certain way to different behaviors. They are questions that I usually felt curious about as a child becoming a teenager. Ever since taking introduction to psychology, it has answered most of my curiosities and I learned different aspects of the human mind and behavior. As stated, psychology is the study of human behavior and mental health. This major is pursued by people desiring to become therapists or counselors. Overall, this connects to my interest and skills. One of my interest was interacting with people. Therefore, this major can fulfill my desires. After doing research, there are some facts that concern me and has made me question if psychology is worth it. People obtaining a bachelor’s degree in psychology do not usually earn a stable income, which I find it alarming. I am not a person that cares about money, but money is necessary for survival and to be able to take care of my loved ones. I had the chance to talk to a counselor that majored in psychology, which it was helpful to be aware of one of the paths I could pursue once I graduate. Students majoring in psychology has grown significantly over the years and the career outlook is supposed to grow by fourteen percent (United States Department of Labor). However; people obtaining a bachelor’s degree in psychology do not usually earn a stable income, but completing a master’s degree or doctorate will open opportunities for new careers such as school psychology, sport psychology, forensic psychology, health psychology and others counseling jobs. In addition, there are differences between a clinical psychologist and research psychologist. A clinical psychology need a license and they work in treating patients with mental, emotional, and behavior disorders. A research psychologist studies the way people think, act, learn, and behave.  

One of my odyssey plans was to become a school psychologist. A school psychologist helps students that are not performing well in school improve, as well as their mental health. In this career a major in psychology is required. Majoring in psychology will help me in one day become a counselor or a therapist. To get into the master’s degree in psychology, a good GPA, letter of recommendation and internships matter. Throughout the next five years, I will have to maintain an over eighty-five and over GPA, get a B or over in experimental psychology, and build good connections with professors to be able to get letter of recommendations. In my first year of college, I should be taking introduction to psychology, statistics, and social psychology. In my second year, I should be taking biology, physics, cognitive psychology. In my third year, I should be taking experimental psychology and psychology of personality. In my fourth year, hopefully it should be easier taking mind, brain and experience class while I do my senior project. Furthermore, internships are essential to get experience studying people and making them feel healthier. In addition, this is a career I would pursue if the physician assistant program does not work out for me. In general, just to imagine I will be helping students with their learning excites me. 

Biology is described as the study of principles of life. Majoring in biology explores the structure, function, and evolution of the living systems. This major is known for being one of the most difficult majors throughout college. Students interested in this major are mostly pre-medicine students because it prepares them for health care careers and the MCAT. This connects more to my career interest than my skills. As I have done research, most people major in psychology and biology in the physician Assistant program. Moreover, the skills and knowledge individuals gain in biology are beneficial for future careers. One of the skills gained is research skills. The knowledge of gaining Research skills is important if students plan to further their education into obtaining a master’s degree or departing for medical school. Also, the skills and knowledge obtained in a biology major can be applied to non-scientific job and scientific jobs after graduation After receiving my bachelor’s degree in biology, it could open the door to many job opportunities depending on the degree acquired. If the student’s choice is to become a Doctor, then he is required to attend medical school. If the student’s choice is to become a Physician assistant, then he needs to attend a Physician Assistant program for over 27 months without vacation. If the student’s choice is to become a biologist, then he needs to apply for a master’s program in an institution. 

Furthermore, another of my odyssey plan is the physician assistant Program. I have been researching this career for about six months. The competition for this career is high and scary. For this path, besides majoring in psychology or biology; I will have to meet the requirements for the master’s degree in Physician Assistant. To start, this career has several crucial pre-requisite courses that are required, such as statistics, physiology, anatomy, microbiology, chemistry, biology I, Biology II, cell biology, physics and genetics. Moreover, an amount of one thousand hours of health care experience, and letters of recommendation from a doctor and staff, stating what I can offer the world. As a result, these requirements need to be completed within the four years of college. Creating an odyssey plan helped me on what I will have to do each year. In my first-year of college, I will start joining clubs and networking inside and outside the campus. In addition, I will take biology and statistics during the semesters. In the summer, I should be starting my health care hours and take chemistry. In my second year of college, I should be taking anatomy, physics and physiology and applying to new internships or shadowing doctors to get some experience in the medical field. In my third year, I should be taking cell biology, genetics, and microbiology, and I should be getting prepare for the GRE. Moreover, begin the application for the physician assistant program. In my fourth year, I should be graduating from college. Therefore, I should take a vacation because once I start the Physician Assisting program it will be twenty-eight months without vacation.  

While interviewing Jesus Ventura, a senior from Pace University, his senior project was about the effects of video games on children. His project helped find out if video games and aggression are related. To do this project an independent and dependent variable is necessary. The independent variable was the violent games and the dependent variable was the behavior from children. First, he had to get a random sample, so he went back to his middle school to experiment sixth graders and seventh graders. He used M-rated games to see the effects in children. Then, he would give a survey to the students asking questions such as how much time you spend playing M-rated games, the games preferences and the amount of time they played every week in order to find out if they have an aggressive personality and aggressive behavior. From what he was describing, it seems that the percentage working with people was around forty percent and the amount of analyzing data was fifty five percent and the percentage on working with things was five percent. The level of the research involving people was around three and the level of the research using data is four B. From the GED chart, he needed to have good reasoning skills by being capable to apply critical thinking to the research. Moreover, the level of math had to be good because he needed to be competent on analyzing data. At last, he needed to possess strong language to be able to communicate with others.      

Investigation of a job 

Research after research led me to believe that the best pathway to follow after graduation is the physician Assistant Program. Physician Assistants work under supervision of doctors, surgeon, and medical professionals (ONET). Pursuing this career is one of the most competitive programs besides other health care careers. Most of the time, the people following their dreams on becoming doctors change their path to the physician assistant program. The reason people change their mind is because the length of time it takes to finish the career. To become a doctor, it takes around twelve years and a physician assistant is six to seven years. In general, doctor and physician assistants have the same duties, but Physician assistants have a greater focus on patients. At last, Physicians assistants work in environments that are comfortable, but the ones that are assisting surgeons are mostly standing up and other may walk frequently. In addition, the medium salary of physician assistant is $100,000 per year. 

The physician assistant is one of the most competitive programs, but beneficial. Usually, Physician Assistants responsibilities are similar to Doctors. The responsibilities are examining patients to obtain physical conditions, make diagnoses and decisions treatment of patients, prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval, administer or order diagnostic tests, such as x-ray, electrocardiogram, and laboratory tests, and interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal (Onet). Additionally, to do all the tasks it requires skills to be able to perform each task correctly without making mistakes. The skills necessary for this career are active Listening because it is necessary to give full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made. Critical Thinking is crucial by using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. Reading Comprehension is important by understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents. Speaking is essential by talking to others to convey information effectively (Onet). While a physician assistant is performing their jobs duties helping clients or other physicians, must of their jobs requires them to work with people, Data, and things. Most of their time, it involves analyzing data (level 4), treating people (level 4c), and precision working with things (level 3a).  the amount of time physician assistants work on people, data, and things are balanced in my opinion. Working with people may be 40%, working with data may be 30, and working with things 30%. Referring to the section selecting a major, in order to become a physician assistant, a master’s degree is required. 

While researching about the career. the more research I did, the more questions I had.  It was a correlation between research and questions. I started by generating ideas on what I felt unsure or concern about my major. Secondly, I reframed those ideas into why, how, what questions to be capable to acquire more information from the subject I was going to interview. Thirdly, after reading the article “Bolles Conducting Interviews” gave me confidence on getting prepare to interview a professor or a senior before conducting an interview. At last I went to my old coworker to practice interviewing skills until I felt comfortable. While interviewing Doctor Gonzales, I was able to ask question, I was concern. One of the questions I asked was how did he manage to pay for all his tuition? He replied, “It took me five years to be able to pay everything, but I was eating the same thing over and over because I was trying to save money. Within the five years, I lost a lot of weight. However; all my tuition was paid. In addition, another question I asked, were you always an excellent student throughout high school and college? And what made you become a Doctor? He replied, “I was not the best student in high school. I attended St John’s University and I remember my first semester I failed calculus. However; experiencing that failure turned me into a better student because when I retook the class, I received A+. I was unsure of what to do it college because I was interested in computer science and medicine. I decided to study medicine because there was an accelerated program at St John’s University to finish my career faster.” At the end of the interview, I learned things I did not in the medical field. All his responses to my questions motivated me into getting in the Physician Assistant Program. I always thought that the students who chose to become doctors were smart from their beginning of their college year, but in the case of him, it taught me that hard work is more important to success. 

On the other hand, I am aware that I chose the Physician Assistant Program, but that does not mean I won’t take other careers in consideration. The major I am choosing is psychology to work towards into getting into the Physician Assistant Program. The benefits I saw into getting into this field is that I will be able to interact with people, have a better salary, and the job outlook is good. However; the only tradeoff I am conscious is the level of difficulty it takes getting into the field. Becoming a physician Assistant may be simpler than become a medical student, but it is still difficult. While researching, one requisite that concerns me is the number of health care experience because I am expected to have all of them before applying to the graduate program. unfortunately, if one day I decide to change pathways to become a counselor I will have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, which I could towards into pursuing plan B. 

Design thinking process 

Activities and Research in the design steps have assisted me to know what career to pursuit. At the beginning of the course, I came to the class being conscious of my future objectives or plans. Ever since, I realized that back up goals were necessary in case the unexpected happens which is disliking my major. It all started with the results from my Holland code SIC. In fact, it was confusing because I am not a “social person” but I always fall into that category. In my experience, before working as a student counselor I did like to be around people, but once I got exposed into the field, I started enjoying it. Therefore, finding out the activities that brings me positive energy and engages me has been impactful throughout my research process. Referring to the rubric of informed design, I believe I understood the basics of the problems and I did not speed up the process of choosing a major and a career without having multiple solutions. Moreover, interviewing was the most influential activity because I got the chance to network with a senior, a professor, and a doctor. It was pleasant hearing their stories about the obstacles they faced to be where they are today. At last, I never knew my skills. I never knew what I was good at other than having the heart to help others. The ten transferable skills activity helped me be aware of my strengths. My top transferable skill was “pay attention to details” in fact, I had to analyze this skill to see if it connected to my previous experiences and research I had done in majors and careers. I want to become a physician assistant and paying attention to details is crucial. For example, if I am not paying attention to details it could affect my life and the patients’ lives. In addition, finding out my skills, flow, stories and the activities I enjoy has led me into picking psychology as my main major. However; biology being my back up choice because it will prepare me for the Physician Assistant Program too. 

In conclusion, although the semester is ending, I have learned new information that I can use throughout my college career in order to have an idea of what I could pursuit in the future. Enrolling to this class has put me one step ahead compared to other students. At the end of the semester, I expect to keep using the activities to guide myself into the next steps I must do. In addition, I am conscious of the next steps I need to execute to have a better understand of the field I am trying to pursuit. Although I talked to a doctor, that was not enough because it could have been better if it was a physician assistant. One of my future steps will be to interview a physician assistant to get a better sense of the field. Another future step is to try to network with them to be able to acquire internships in the health care field. At the moment, I am doing an internship at Bronx River High School, but I am doing this to gain experience in the psychology field, which is counseling students. At last, researching different careers and majors other than psychology have been impactful in case one life plan does not work out.