With each new generation of young adults completing their high school education and preparing to enter college or the workforce, there comes unique challenges in beginning their lives in the adult world and setting off on the path to pursuing their future. Among the issues facing emerging adults today are an extremely competitive job market, lack of adequate preparation for college or meaningful vocational skills training, and an increasing sense of being mentally and emotionally unprepared for the challenges of post-secondary education and pursuit of a career. Young adults today are finding that they lack the necessary skills to adequately navigate their way successfully through college and onto successful careers and adult responsibilities.
Education has become essential to obtaining a job that pays well enough to support a
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Although it is evident that students most likely need more than a high school diploma to realize success in their future careers, there are plenty of other options besides the traditional college route. There are technical schools for all types of skills and trades, as well as work programs, military service, and other programs. “The original role of school counselors was to guide students in making decisions about which curriculum - academic or vocational -they would select” (Herr, 2013, p. 279). It is important to explore all avenues of interest with students, even starting as early as middle school. Many technical and trade programs can begin in high school and students can take advantage of the opportunity to learn what interests them before they find themselves in their senior year of high school applying to colleges they may have no interest in attending. Post-secondary education does not need to be an all or nothing prospect, “vocational education and academic education are not competitive but complementary” (Herr, 2013, p.