What do statistics and media relations have in common? Both are examples of potential career choices for a student earning a degree in advertising.
The Moorpark College Counseling Center offers suggestions for all majors as they work to help students determine and accomplish their educational goals.
“We can help students declare a major based on their goal,” said Counseling Department Chair Traci Allen. “We help them figure out what courses and programs to take to get there.”
Now that the spring semester is nearly half over, many students are beginning to think more carefully about the degrees they are seeking and their ultimate educational goals. Though this task may seem daunting at times, a little guidance from the college’s Counseling Center can help make the process much smoother. Over 60 percent of California students who earned a bachelor’s degree in 2016 started their higher education career at a community college, according to a report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Moorpark College offers its students the resources they need to help direct their paths and be part of that number.
The Counseling Center works closely with Moorpark’s Career Transfer Center, but Allen points out that though they work hand in hand, the Counseling Center helps with career paths in a unique way.
“There’s cross-over because we’re both in educational planning,” said Allen, “but we don’t do the job placement side of it. There are two ways that students need career help, and one way is in helping choose majors. That’s what we do. The Career Transfer Center deals with helping get specific jobs once a student already has a major.”
One resource that has lately been promoted by the Counseling Center is the Entrepreneur Speaker Series event held by California Lutheran University. This regular series hosts entrepreneurs at the Westlake Center in Westlake Village and is free of charge as long as students register ahead of time.
“Next Entrepreneur Speaker Series, Thurs Mar 22, 6pm,” retweeted @MC_COUN from @CalLutheranSOM’s original tweet. This talk will feature Michael McCreary, founder and CEO of a tech start-up in the Conejo Valley. Students who attend will have a chance to pitch their own start-up ideas.
In addition to supporting talks that can inspire career paths and offering guidance for choosing majors, the Counseling Center also helps with academic survival skills throughout the school year. Two such skills are time management and techniques for managing different learning styles.
“For example, if a student comes to us and says they are a visual learner,” said Allen, “we can help them figure out how they can best learn in any auditory classes they may be taking.”
So what’s the best way for an English major to go into Business Management, or a Public Administration major to get into the Healthcare field? Visit the Moorpark College Counseling Center in Fountain Hall and find out. They are there to look at students’ goals and work with them individually to make sure they achieve those goals.
