When I visited Guilford College in North Carolina a few years ago, my tour guide was a senior majoring in the arts. He loved his Guilford experience and was excited for his next steps. His plan after graduation? A welding certificate program. The plan was to learn welding as a way to make art, but he knew it had a practical side as well. This student came to mind when I read this article by veteran college counselor Patrick O’Connor, Ph.D.
Dr. O’Connor does a great job reminding all of us that the talents, needs, and interests of students should be at the center of all post-secondary planning. Doing so assures the students about the choices they are making, especially if they choose a less conventional path after graduation. These students can take to heart the words of Robert Frost, some take “the one less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference.”