Name:
Date:
Mentor:
How to use this worksheet. Choosing a direction is not choosing forever. This sheet is about narrowing sensibly — noticing what you are drawn to, what you are good at, and what a given program will actually require week to week.
PART 1
Before You Pick, Notice
Read together. Nothing to fill in.
Three different questions people confuse
- What am I interested in? — what you read about or watch without being told to.
- What am I good at? — what other people come to you for.
- What does the work actually involve? — the daily tasks, not the job title.
Key idea: A direction that matches all three lasts. One that matches only the job title usually does not.
PART 2
What I Am Drawn To
Answer from real examples, not from what sounds impressive.
1.Something I have chosen to learn about without being made to:
2.A task I have lost track of time doing:
3.Something people ask me for help with:
Clarify — Use real memories rather than general statements. “I like helping people” is true of almost everyone; “I spent two hours helping my cousin set up her phone and enjoyed it” tells you something specific.
PART 3
What the Program Actually Asks
Pick one program you are considering and find out what it involves.
4.Program name:
5.How is it assessed — exams, essays, hands-on work, a portfolio?
6.How many hours a week, and how much of that is outside class?
7.What does someone do in the job this leads to, on an ordinary Tuesday?
Clarify — Assessment style matters more than most people expect — for many students it shapes whether a course suits them as much as the subject does. If you cannot find this out from the catalogue, that is a question for the next open day or an email.
PART 4
The Honest Comparison
Put your answers side by side.
8.Where do my interests and this program genuinely overlap?
9.Where do they not?
10.What would I need to be OK with in order to do this?
Clarify — Every real option has a part you would rather avoid. Naming it now is not discouragement — it is the difference between deciding with your eyes open and being surprised in week three.
PART 5
My Next Step
One action, with a date.
11.One thing I will find out or do before the next session:
12.Who do I need to talk to?
13.By when?
Clarify — Make it something you could finish in a week. “Email the admissions office one question” is a step; “research colleges” is not, because there is no point at which it is done.
💡 Tips for You: Choosing With Your Eyes Open
- Interest and fit are not the same thing. Loving a subject and enjoying how it is taught week to week are two different questions. Ask both.
- Ask how it is graded. A program assessed by essays feels very different from one assessed by hands-on work, even when the topic is identical.
- Talk to someone doing it now. One honest conversation with a current student tells you more than any brochure will.
Reflection
Which of these was hardest to answer honestly? Is there a direction you have been avoiding looking at, and what makes it hard to look at? Who could tell you what a normal week on that program actually looks like?
— End of Worksheet —
Bring this to your next session and talk it through.
FOR MENTOR USE — STUDY THIS TOGETHER
Mentor Guide
How to run this worksheet, use the hints, and review it together
1. What this builds
Direction-setting that separates the three questions people usually merge: interest, strength, and the actual daily content of the work. It also pushes the student toward assessment style, which shapes fit more than most people expect and is rarely considered.
2. Running it
- Read the part headings aloud together before the student starts. Knowing the shape of the sheet lowers the cost of starting.
- There are no wrong answers on the fill-in lines — this is the student's own thinking, not a test.
- Every working part has a Clarify hint. The student should try the part first and read the hint only if stuck. It gives a strategy, never words to copy.
- If a line stays blank, that is information. Ask what made it hard rather than filling it in for them.
3. What to watch for
- Answers in Part 2 phrased as what sounds impressive. Ask for the memory behind the statement; general answers cannot be compared against anything.
- Part 3 left blank because the information was hard to find. That is a real finding — help them identify who to ask rather than filling it in for them.
- Part 4 with nothing in the “where they do not overlap” box. Nobody's match is perfect; an empty box usually means the student is trying to give the right answer.
- Part 5 steps that are too large. Shrink them until they fit inside a week, or the sheet ends with nothing that actually happens.
4. Reviewing it
Review with the student, not by marking the page. Ask them to read one answer aloud and say why they wrote it — the reason matters more than the wording.
Finish by agreeing one specific thing to try before the next session. Write it on the last line so it is not lost.