PARENT NEWSLETTER

December 2013

Here are some more up and coming occupations that your child/children could be preparing for. This may also help them decide what classes to take once they get to college. This information was researched and written by GEAR UP Student Coordinator, Meredith Waara.

Jobs in 2020

  • Data Crunching: No, this isn’t all about math, but it is about looking at numbers and making sense of them. Marketing and data research fields will be big in 2020. Companies want to know more and more about their customers and their buying habits. If you like statistics, this might be for you!
  • Counseling and Therapy: Do you like helping and/or working with people? With the increase of mental health awareness, these jobs are becoming more prevalent. There may be a lot of schooling involved, but your hard work would pay off in the end!
  • Scientific Research: With the continuing boom of new technology, research workers skilled in biology, chemistry, computers, math, and engineering are becoming more of a necessity. With the changing technology comes the need for more workers in the fields of medicine, engineering, and even robotics.
  • Computer Engineering: This isn’t all about video games! Despite most of our system engineering being done overseas, big companies are always looking for the best and fastest methods for their company’s computer and software systems. Who knows? You could be the one to design Wall Street’s next secure server.
  • Veterinarians: Love animals? This job is for you! Veterinarians are always needed, especially today and in the coming years. Pets are more popular than ever and someone has to make sure they are healthy.
  • Environmental and Conservation Science: We all know our environment is important. This growing field takes a look at finding more efficient (“green”) ways of heating/cooling buildings and deals with maintaining the infrastructure of our world as the population increases. How are we going to deal with the increasing amounts of people who need resources? Someday, they will run out, and then what? Looking at this issue will continue to be a big idea as the years pass.
  • Some Healthcare Fields: Demand for specific healthcare fields is 2020 will likely include: nurses, optometrists (checking the health of people’s eyes), audiologists (ears), dentists, physical therapists, and some other doctor specialists. These may all include lots of schooling, but you will be assisting with the healthcare that everyone needs!
  • Management: Are you a leader? Whether you are managing an entire company or an afterschool activity or club, effective management can be difficult to achieve. As a profession, it requires basic business knowledge and the ability to oversee operations effectively. Other branches of the management field include human relations, benefits administration, and event planning.
  • Finance: Does this field seem daunting to you? To put it simply, a career in finance means you would be managing money. With new banking regulations and traditional ways fading into newer methods, this type of job is likely to be in high demand.
  • Entrepreneurship: Have you ever had a lemonade stand? If yes, you were an entrepreneur! By 2020, and even today, people are looking for cheaper and more efficient ways of accomplishing certain tasks using services provided. Innovators, possibly you, will have a great impact on the way we live. Who knows what the next great “Facebook”, “Pinterest”, or “Twitter” will be? You could design it! You could come up with the next great restaurant or rollercoaster idea!

Source:

Speaking of preparing for college, here are some more tips that Meredith has that you can assist your students with.

Tips for High School Freshmen/Parents of Freshmen

•Saving money will “pay” off later. Think about getting a job (babysitting, mowing lawn, etc.) For example, if you put away $10 each week over the course of the school year (from Sept-June, minus Christmas and Spring Breaks), by the end of the year you will have saved $400. Check this site out for budgeting tips:

•Your parents are there for you, not to bother you. Be nice to them, you will thank yourself later. Parents talk to your kids and avoid the “How was school?” clichés.

For kids:

For parents:

•Join after school clubs and get involved, students and parents.

Benefits of afterschool involvement for kids:

Parent involvement:

•Relationships aren’t necessarily that important, but friendships are.

•Teach your kids how to do laundry/other household chores now, so then in four years, they won’t be just learning how to do these things for themselves.

•Politeness goes a long way.

•B’s and C’s will happen. Prepare yourself for that B- on your chemistry exam. If you don’t do so well in high school, it’s okay.

•Do you! Parents have this talk with your kids. It doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing. Individuality is a good thing. Like what you like and do what you want to do (within reason). Originality…

•Be on time. Make a good impression on your teachers; this will pay off in the long run.

•Try to stay organized! Keep a planner or a to-do list to keep your homework and schedule straight. Use the planners that GEAR UP has given you! Don’t just let them collect dust in your backpack.

Living with Mental Illness: A Reality for a Surprising Number of Families

Linda Sirois, Future Faculty Fellow at Northern Michigan University

Whether you are aware of it or not, you certainly know someone who suffers from mental illness. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in four Americans will face a mental illness this year. 2011 NAMI statistics also tell us that more than 7.5 million children and adolescents suffer from some form of mental illness.

What is mental illness? Mental illness is defined as “biological brain disorders that interfere with normal brain chemistry” (NAMI). Some people may be predisposed to mental illness due to genetic make-up; life stressors also may trigger or exacerbate symptoms.

Depression, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Autism spectrum disorders, and anxiety disorders such as Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are among the most common mental illnesses suffered by children and teenagers. But no one of any age is immune from developing some kind of mental illness.

NAMI’s Family-to-Family educational program calls mental illness an “equal opportunity disease, striking families from all walks of life, regardless of age, race, income, religion, or education” (1.34).

More about what mental illness is: variable in severity from mild to incapacitating; not curable yet, but very treatable; devastating to sufferers, due to the illness interfering with normal thought processes and emotions; equally devastating to the families of those who are mentally ill, due to inadequate information about mental illness, lack of support for sufferers and their families, and social stigma toward those who are mentally ill.

It is important to understand that mental illnesses—brain disorders—are no more anyone’s fault than are illnesses like Type 1 Diabetes, or cancer. Mental illnesses “are not caused by poor parenting or weak character” (NAMI 1.34); they are simply highly misunderstood physiological illnesses that strike indiscriminately. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) states that only a fraction of those needing treatment receive help.

Huge advances have been made within the last 25 years in understanding, diagnosing, and treating brain disorders and, although challenging to live with, those who develop mental illness have a better chance than ever before to receive appropriate medical care and lead satisfying and meaningful lives.

Information dispels fear and misconceptions about mental illness. Information will end the stigma that isolates and traumatizes people (and their families) who deal with mental illness every day. Do a favor, for yourself and for that one out of four people you know, and educate yourself about the facts of mental illness.

There are many excellent resources, including support groups for families and for the mentally ill, in the Marquette area. Visit the NAMI website at the Alger-Marquette NAMI website at call 906-235-0231 for the local NAMI affiliate; or visit the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) website at

Happy Holidays from the GEAR UP Staff at NMU:

Shirley Brozzo, Project Director

Meredith Waara, Student Coordinator and

Graduating Student Coordinator, Tiara Garland 