It is no secret that high school students have many options for careers after high school. These options include going to college, joining the military, trade school, starting a business, taking a gap year or even getting an online degree. For college, it would take at least a minimum of four years for a bachelor’s degree and two years for a master’s degree. Students that don’t want to go to a regular college can go into trade school for two years. Trade school helps with becoming a plumber, electrician, electrical line worker and IT technician just to name a few. Due to the overabundance of options, many students feel overwhelmed. Luckily, students can take a gap year and take time to make a decision without feeling like being rushed. Anyone can change what career they want to pursue during their lifetime according to uopeople.org. It’s beneficial for students to look over short and long term goals to help them with choosing their future career. 

College students struggle with choosing a career path according to the Junior Achievement USA and Wakefield Research. Wakefield Research and the Junior Achievement USA conducted a survey from 2,000 high school students, college aged teens, and young adults from around the country. The survey concluded that many of the 2,000 students take until their sophomore year of college to finally choose a career path. Careerbuilder conducted similar research on graduates that have a job that relates to their major and found that ⅓ of college graduates don’t work a job related to their college major. The Hartford researched career satisfaction of college graduates and found that 64% of respondents have enjoying their career as a top priority as opposed to being good at it. The Hartford survey had another question about influences to career choice and found that around 80% of respondents prefer advice from professionals that work in the field opposed to family, friends, social media and academic counselors. 

We interviewed three IHS students, Dan O’Carroll, Elias Wiggins and Nate Kobozeuski to find out what Ipswich students want for careers and if they always wanted that career. We first asked Dan, “What is your plan after high school?” Dan wants to go to college for  pre vet. Next, we asked Dan, “What career path do you want to pursue?” Dan wants to eventually be a veterinarian after college. Finally, we asked Dan, “Is this what you always wanted to do?” Dan has wanted to be a veterinarian ever since the third grade. 

Elias Wiggins was our second interviewed IHS student and he gave us a different answer to the first question than Dan O’Carroll. After high school, Elias hopes to go to college. Our second question was, “Has this plan changed at all or fluctuated?” Unlike Dan, Elias has changed his plan for his career path after high school. Elias changed his path after two years of high school; Elias originally didn’t want to go to college but has changed his decision. Our final question for our interviewee was, “What career path do you want to follow?” Elias wants to follow a completely different career path than Dan; Elias wants to pursue being either a filmmaker or a creative writer. 

The final IHS student that we interviewed was Nate Kobozeuski and he gave a different answer to the questions which means that IHS student’s career paths vary from person to person. The first question that we asked Nate, “If you are going to college, what majors interest you?” Nate wants to take a mechanical engineering class in college. Next, we wanted to find out what college that Nate wants to attend.  Surprisingly, Nate will be attending Endicott College which is really close to Ipswich. Finally, we asked what career path that Nate wanted to follow but we weren’t surprised that he wants to be an engineer since he wants to take a mechanical engineering class in college. 

In conclusion we can confirm that for IHS students the career paths they wish to follow vary quite a bit. This generally stays in line with what fellow students around the country choose to follow. Although some of the students we interviewed said their plans varied or could change down the road, they each have different plans and ideas on what they choose to follow and how they will choose to follow it.