Read "Standards for Career-Ready Practice,"as set forth by the California Department of Education here. Focusing on the first five, choose the one that you feel is the most important as you transition into college and career. Why did you choose this one? Can you relate it to something in your own life or something you have observed?

As I am reading "Standards for Career-Ready Practice," set forth by the California Department of Education, there are a few of the standards that particularly stand out to me. However, the one that stood out the most was #3: Develop an education and career plan aligned with personal goals. Recently, I have found this standard to be extremely effective. Since I have been thinking about college a lot, I have always wondered how I can reach my ultimate goal. I have found that setting small, personal goals has helped a lot when moving towards my dreams. This way, I can recognize the value of each step in the experiential and educational processes. Also, it helps me understand that nearly all career paths require continuous education and experiences in order to adapt to the expectations, procedures and practice of the constantly changing work environment. Requesting and receiving assistance and guidance from others such as friends, family, counselors, teachers, and even deans and principals, is a good way of learning and practicing how to communicate with others to move forward. The skills attained from setting personal goals goes a long way when working towards one's main goal. Lastly, goal setting helps set a pathway to your goal, rather than trying to immediately get there. Things take time and nothing will just be simply handed to you. You have to work hard for what you want.