Ask yourself some difficult questions. Be honest. You're in a unique position to plan your future.

1. What are your interests?
   
   What activities do you enjoy doing? Sports? Reading? Writing? Volunteer work? Music? Do you paint or draw? Speak a foreign language? Did you enjoy science and math in high school? What activities or events make you feel strong? What clubs are of interest? How do you spend your time outside of class? What things do you dream about doing? For you to be successful in a major and a career, you'll have to enjoy the subject area. You'll be immersed in that subject area during your years of college and beyond.
    
2. What are your abilities?
   
   Do you seem to have a natural talent for a certain subject area? Do problem-solving activities come easily to you? Do you like to fix things or work with your hands? Are you a person who leads well or are you a follower? Have you won awards or scholarships? How did you score on your college entrance exams? How does your performance compare with others? What have teachers and others told you that you do well?
    
3. What are your values?
   
   Values are what you think, feel or strongly believe. A choice of major or career needs to be congruent with your core values or it can cause you unhappiness in the future. Is accumulation of wealth in your lifetime most important to you? Is it more important that you life's work be of service to others? Do you value travel? What about independence in work situations? What kind of work environment would bring you the most satisfaction? Are you intellectually curious, valuing learning for learning's sake, or do you believe that learning should simply be about what you need for a future job? 
   
   CAREER SERVICES OFFERS A VALUES CARD SORT EXERCISE that can easily help you confirm your values. Call 963-1921 or 963-2404 for an appointment.
    
4. What are your motivations?
   
   What moves you? Why are you at Central? Is there an outside influence such as parental pressure or the desire to make a good living? Are you thinking about a major that is easy to complete in four years, or are you truly looking at your own interests, abilities and values in making a decision? Remember, you can only be successful in a job/career if you have a sincere interest in the type of work and your abilities and values align with what is expected of the job. 
   
   CAREER SERVICES HAS A MOTIVATED SKILLS CARD SORT to help you in this process.
   • Talk to your friends, parents and professors about your interest and abilities: they may know you better than you think!
   • Write down what you find out and carefully analyze your own interest and abilities, strengths, values and motivations.
   • Visit Career Services in Bouillon 206 and take the TypeFocus career assessment. Meet with a career counselor to discuss the results.
5. Assess your academic strengths.
   
   Do you do well in coursework required by majors that interest you? Your chances for success at CWU are greatly enhanced if you select subjects you enjoy and do well in. This is one reason (there are others) you shouldn't postpone taking math and science courses if you are considering science majors. You need to discover early on whether you enjoy these subjects and do well in them in college.