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Career Goals Essay

Sep 16, 20249 min read

Introduction

If there was one skill my mother instilled in me, it was the ability to think for myself. From a young age, she taught me to know the reasons behind everything I did and the ideologies I believed. Now, hardly a day goes by without me questioning the “why” behind my thoughts, emotions, actions, and reactions. I won’t say I psychoanalyze everything, but I do have a good awareness of myself and my environment. This also developed in me the desire to know the reasons behind certain thought patterns and ideologies. I want to understand the reasons behind basic human behavior and what could drive them to abuse, control, and hurt others. The human mind is a fascinating and endless study. Yet, what drew my attention the most was what happens when different minds gathered together to form villages, towns, cities, states, countries, and cultures. When a bunch of minds and ideologies overlapped, that was when things got fascinating.

My favorite subjects in school usually had something to do with law, politics, government, ethics, and the Bible. I loved researching and writing about big topics like homosexuality, feminism, and Noah’s Flood. I would spend hours listening, reading, and correlating between different political issues and what the Bible taught about it. My favorite YouTubers were leaders and influencers like Candace Owens, Brett Cooper, Matt Walsh, and others. For as long as I could write an essay, I have been cultivating the skills of a researcher and political analyst. One of my passions, perhaps the biggest, is studying different viewpoints, comparing them to the Bible, and adapting them to my own worldview. I love to engage into all types of debates that questioned morality, politics, government, and ideologies. That is why I want to become a political scientist and work to improve my government.

A Political Scientist? Define Please!

Political science is the study of the origin, development, and operation of political systems. This includes analyzing public opinion and political entities. With a political science degree, graduates will be armed with an in-depth understanding of how local and national governments work, and how to make changes and improve them. Students will learn why certain systems were set in place and how to work within those systems to impact society.

Requirements

The U.S. Department of Labor by the National Center for O*NET Development recommends that a political scientist should have the following skills:

  • Reading comprehension,
  • Active learning,
  • Active listening,
  • Speaking, and
  • Critical thinking.

They should also have basic knowledge in:

  • Law and Government,
  • Education and Training,
  • History and Archaeology, and
  • Mathematics.

Characteristics

If you have an investigative and artistic nature, this field may also be of interest to you. And if you value things like achievement, recognition, and good working conditions, don’t worry because you won’t need to worry about those things if you choose to pursue a political science degree. Just make sure you are ready to think analytically, take initiative, be persistent, pay attention to detail, and have enough self-control to set goals and surpass them.

Why Political Science Is A Good Choice For Me

Personality

According to my CareerDirect assessment, my personality can be summarized as unstructured, innovative, extroverted, cautious and compliant. Too many restrictions and rules would get in the way of my creativity and would eventually frustrate me and stunt my growth. I need the freedom to set my own priorities and focus on the big picture, but I do understand the need for some structure and will do my best to work within the rule book. I may need to be reminded about big projects because I struggle with focusing on one thing for long periods of time. Furthermore, I am a social bird who is good at networking, and tend to be more cooperative than domineering. Likewise, I like leading by example instead of rushing in to take over. Also, I lean more towards the cautious side, and I like to get the feel for a new environment before I start to spread my wings a bit and take on a more leadership role. I don’t always care who is in charge, as long as they are not making it difficult to be in their team. I have strong verbal skills and can be diplomatic in resolving issues if needed. The ability to adapt and be flexible is a double-edged sword that I haven’t always wielded in the right way because it can cause me to not speak out as quickly as I should. But, I do make up for that by having a high stress tolerance, so I can handle situations that aren’t going my way.

Skills

After examining my personality, it is no surprise that my interpersonal communication skills are high, followed by analytical thinking, leadership, technology/data, and communication. Socializing is my forte, and I will thrive in a position that requires me to regularly interact with people to provide counsel and teach. And my moderately-high analytical skills are useful for the vast amounts of research, evaluating, and reasoning that goes into political science. I’m sure my tech skills will prove useful as well when I start writing and sharing my feedings.

Values

Flexible hours, independence, harmony, and variety are the values that top everything else for me. As a woman, my first job is caring for my family, having flexible hours will allow me to prioritize the needs of my husband and children above my career. Independence would free me from the crippling feeling of being controlled. I need to be able to have some sort of flexibility in my career, so I can be free to work freely and be creative. If necessary, I will eventually confront my coworkers and even my boss if I believe there is conflict within the team, but I would prefer a harmonious work environment. And lastly, due to my innovative side, I need some variety in my workload. Different problems and different people on a frequent basis will keep me motivated and chase away the boredom.

The most important achievements to me would be those that include helping others, intellectual stimulation, continuing education, and career progression. My job must be something that contributes to the overall welfare and health of others. Furthermore, because my frontal lobe likes to tickle a lot during the day, it would be great if my career could throw a few complex issues at me, so I can activate my memory, open up my collection of notes, and flex my research skills. Likewise, to further keep it interesting, my career needs to be able to go somewhere. I won’t survive long in a stagnant position, I have to be able to grow and push myself to get a promotion of some sort.

My priorities revolve around faith, family, integrity, and aesthetics. Jesus will always be the most important part of my life and my top priority. I will always be looking for ways to glorify Him, and because I am an outgoing person, I would prefer to make it obvious that I am a Christian. If being a Christian is going to be a problem in the workplace, I probably won’t stick around for long. My family comes in at a close second. I want to have time to support my husband and be a mother to our children. If my career gets in the way of that, I will give it up and find something else to do to support the family financially. My integrity and loyalty are also a priority for me. I will strive to keep my commitments and if I am constantly failing to do that, I will leave my workplace. And last, but not least, I love some aesthetics and making life more beautiful and relaxing is something I just can’t stop myself from doing.

Goals

Short-term

After I get my Associate’s degree, I hope to be able to transfer to Liberty University and start majoring in political science.

Long-term

I’m not entirely sure what I will do with my political science degree, there are a lot of options. Poli-sci graduates can go on to become journalists, lobbyists, public relations specialists, political consultants, and more. I am interested in so many, I think I might try a few of them. Journalism is one job I think it would be a good path for me, I enjoy staying current with the news and writing. I could also see myself being a political consultant on shows and podcasts.

Conclusion

When I discovered political science, I got very excited. After watching videos about it and listening to political scientists talk about what they do, I could picture myself in that environment and it was fun. Even if I don’t end up pursuing a career with a political science degree, the skills and knowledge I will gain will be a firm foundation for many other career paths. Poli-sci degree is beneficial for law, history, and diplomatic positions, to name a few. Not only that, but understanding how the government works is beneficial in everyday life. Graduates will be able to be more responsible in their voting and understand new bills pending in Congress. I think political science is a major, or minor, that everyone should consider studying at some point in their lives.

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