Making the Most of Your Undergraduate Years

Before embarking on your college career, you should ask yourself a few simple questions…

1. What do you want from your college experience?
2. What do you want from your major?
3. What do you want from your career?

Chances are, you will find your college experience more rewarding and you will be a more successful student if you give some serious thought to these questions. Knowing why you are in school helps you see see the relevance between what you are doing in school and how this will serve you later–either on the job or in graduate school. Seeing these connections motivates you to do well. If you can develop clear educational and career goals early in your college experience, this can have a number of important pay-offs. For example, you’ll have more time to identify and program into your schedule those courses that will serve you well and those volunteer and extracurricular activities that will help you develop useful skills. Also, if you’ve gotten off to a bad start grade-wise, the more terms you’ll have to earn high grades to offset the low ones.

These are all complex questions so you shouldn’t get discouraged if you can’t come up with immediate answers. It may be a case of your needing more information before you can know what you want. If so, just put the questions on the “back burner” as you review the information on this site. Hopefully, what you learn here will guide you to the answers you seek.

If you’ve familiarized yourself with the materials on this site and done some serious reflection on your educational and career goals and you’re still feeling confused, I’d suggest making an appointment for some career counseling at the Career Services Office on your campus. You might also consider making an appointment at the Counseling Center to take some occupational interest tests. Another option is to take some time off from school and get some job experience. Then, once you know why you want to go to college, you should be much more interested in your classes and motivated to do well.

A Career as an Electrican

Are you looking for a career that is always in demand? Becoming an electrician can put you on the path for an in demand and lucrative career.

Electricians generally specialize in construction or maintenance work, although a growing number do both. Electricians specializing in construction work primarily install wiring systems into new homes, businesses, and factories, but they also rewire or upgrade existing electrical systems as needed. Electricians specializing in maintenance work primarily maintain and upgrade existing electrical systems and repair electrical equipment.

Electricians work with blueprints when they install electrical systems. Blueprints indicate the locations of circuits, outlets, load centers, panel boards, and other equipment. Electricians must follow the National Electrical Code and comply with State and local building codes when they install these systems. Regulations vary depending on the setting and require various types of installation procedures.

Some persons seeking to become electricians choose to obtain their classroom training before seeking a job. Training to become an electrician is offered by a number of public and private vocational-technical schools and training academies in affiliation with local unions and contractor organizations. Employers often hire students who complete these programs and usually start them at a more advanced level than those without the training. A few persons become electricians by first working as helpers, assisting electricians setting up job sites, gathering materials, and doing other nonelectrical work, before entering an apprenticeship program.

* The median hourly earnings of electricans is $20.33.

Attention Parents of the College Bound: Get in the Race Now

Attention high school seniors and parents: Have you submitted the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) yet? If not, what are you waiting for?

Students entering college in the fall need to complete the FAFSA to be eligible for any type of financial aid — that includes government loans and grants and various merit awards. And many schools award aid on a first-come, first-served basis, so once the 2007-08 FAFSA became available on Jan. 1, the race began.

According to Rob LaBreche, president of consumer marketing for the College Loan Corporation, “Students and families who complete the FAFSA first are putting themselves in the best position to benefit from federal aid.”

It’s still early, however. And completing a FAFSA is simple. Paper forms are available at local libraries, high school guidance offices and college financial aid offices. But it’s easier and faster to submit the FAFSA electronically. It’s available at www.fafsa.ed.gov. (Be sure to get a PIN from the U.S. Department of Education first — www.pin.ed.gov.) Not only is the electronic version processed more quickly, it also has built-in checks for accuracy.

In the FAFSA, you’ll have to include tax information. Don’t worry if you haven’t received your W-2s yet — just estimate the information and correct it later. If the student expects to receive tuition payments from a college savings plan in the upcoming academic year, you will have to report the value of the plan as a parent asset (not as an asset of a dependent student as it was in the past.)

Don’t forget to complete college-specific financial aid forms, which many schools require in addition to the FAFSA. Many private colleges and universities also require applicants to submit the College Board’s CSS/Financial Aid Profile application. It helps private schools determine eligibility for nongovernmental aid.

By Marshall Loeb FOXNEWS.COM