Postsecondary Success: Considering One’s Purpose and Mission

Joseph Marshall, III, in his book “The Lakota Way of Strength and Courage: Lessons in Resilience from the Bow and Arrow,” emphasizes the importance of finding one’s purpose in life. Marshall’s own life story includes considerable change across his career until his eventual discovery of his mission: writing and storytelling. Marshall reveals that although it took him a while to emerge as a writer, evidence of his passion was present during childhood. He enjoyed the stories told by his grandfather during his early years and became an avid reader during his school years, learning from the stories of others. A quick examination of Marshall’s own book titles seem to reflect his mission: keeping stories of his culture alive by educating others. Just like his grandfather, he became a storyteller (Marshall, 2012).

Since its origins in the work of Frank Parsons, career development and counseling have emphasized the importance of learning about one’s self (interests, aptitudes, values, etc.), gathering relevant information about the world of work and then matching the individual with requirements of possible occupations. Despite our staggering nationwide average student-to-school-counselor ratio of 460:1 (Johnson, Rochkind, Ott, & Dupont, 2010), as a profession we have been able to successfully provide career guidance to our students with the help of online career exploration programs. At the very least, our students complete their educational journey in our schools with a basic understanding of who they are and what career opportunities might be a good fit for them. The question is whether what has worked fairly well for so long is sufficient in addressing the concerns and issues found with the world of work at the present time. Fit is still significant but so too is purpose, as Marshall so eloquently reminds us.

Laura Berman Fortgang, a career strategist, deems purpose in life, as a critical factor in career decision making (as cited in Fisher, 2016). Her basic equation of who + why= what is most certainly worthy of our consideration. With indecision about one’s academic and career futures impacting an estimated 50 to 85 percent of college and university students (Capuzzi Simon, 2012; EAB, 2016; Gordon, 1995), the aforementioned considered, addressing the significance of why might be some of the best work we can do to assist our students.
 
In more recent years, Career Construction Theory (CCT) has emerged with its emphasis on exploring life themes and understanding how such themes come together in terms of one’s career (Savickas, 2011, 2013). Exploring life themes as they relate to one’s career is useful in assisting clients as they seek to discover their purpose. Savickas notes that people develop strength and talent when they “actively master what they have passively suffered” (2011, p. 36). With CCT in mind, the fact that some school counselors report that their vulnerabilities during childhood played a significant role in their choice of school counseling as a career should come as no surprise.

Delivering a highly individualized approach such as Career Construction in schools might seem impossible, given our student-to-school-counselor ratio and competing responsibilities. One potential resource anchored in Career Construction Theory is “My Career Story” (MCS), a free workbook designed for high school populations and beyond (Savickas & Hartung, 2012). Access the free download. It may well be one way to assist students in discovering their “why.”  
Capuzzi Simon, C. (2012, November 2). Major decisions. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/education/edlife/choosing-one-college-major-out- of-hundreds.html

EAB. (2016). How late is too late? Myths and facts about the consequences of switching college majors. Retrieved from https://www.eab.com/-/media/EAB/Technology/Student-Success-Collaborative/Success-Pages/EAB_Major%20Switching%20Myths%20and%20Facts.pdf

Fisher, A. (2016). Why high school counseling steers kids off course. Fortune. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2016/04/13/high-school-career-counseling

Gordon, V. N. (1995). The undecided college student: An academic and career advising challenge (2nd. ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Johnson, J., Rochkind, J., Ott, A. N., & Dupont, S. (2010). Can I get a little advice here? How an overstretched high school guidance system is undermining students’ college aspirations. New York, NY: Public Agenda. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED508672.pdf

Marshall, III, J. M. (2012). The Lakota way of strength and courage. Boulder, CO: Sounds True.

Savickas, M. L. (2011). Career counseling. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Savickas, M. L. (2013). The theory and practice of career construction. In S. Brown & R. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work. (2nd ed., pp. 147–183). New York, NY: John Wiley.

Savickas, M. L., & Hartung, P. J. (2012). My career story: An autobiographical workbook for life-career success. Kent, OH: Vocopher. Retreived from http://www.vocopher.com