Customize Your Career Path

You customize your Facebook page. You customize your ringtones. You customize your clothing. Ever think to customize your career path? Central Virginia has more education and training options to choose from than ever before. And the best part is, you’re not limited to just one.

Mix and match options like these to build a road to where you want to go in life:

• Mentorship and Job Shadowing – Visit one-on-one with professionals in an actual job setting to learn more about what it’s like to work in a particular field.
• Registered Apprenticeships – While still in school, get paid to work as a part-time employee alongside experienced workers like electricians, plumbers, law enforcement agents, and chefs.
• Career and Technical Programs – Get advanced training and certifications at community colleges and at private technical colleges. Some programs begin in high school!
• Early College – See the story on page 15 to learn more!
• Associate Degree Programs – There’s a wide variety of two-year degree programs available through community colleges, covering everything from motorsports to nuclear power.
• Four-Year College Programs – Certain jobs you just can’t get without a bachelor’s degree, and Virginia has a ton of great colleges and universities from which to choose.
• “Two + Two” Programs – Consider earning two years of college credit at a community college then transfer to a four-year school. And with programs like CVCC’s partnership with UVA, it’s now even possible to earn a UVA engineering degree through CVCC without having to ever leave Lynchburg!
• Distance Learning – Video conferencing technology now makes it possible for you to take classes from your home in “real time.” Other distance learning situations transmit college class sessions from distant college campuses into local classrooms.
  

  Finding Your Way Into a Technical Career

  If you love solving a problem … figuring out how something works … or creating something new … check out a career in a technology field.

  The industries in Central Virginia have grown to be extremely high-tech in recent years. The Lynchburg area is now a leader in the fields of energy and electronics.

  For example, an eight-week summer apprenticeship program at AREVA in Lynchburg can give you a chance to see what it would be like to work in nuclear power.

  Finding a Fit

  Career Coach Miranda Lowry, who works at Jefferson Forest High School, recalls that when she finished high school, she had average grades and not a lot of money. But then she attended community college, found success there, and eventually went on to earn her master’s degree at Virginia Tech.

  In her role as a Career Coach, she helps students customize their career paths.

  “Students are surprised at the different options that are available to them,” Lowry said, “but what I think they find most surprising is that it is not too late to have the future they want even if they didn’t earn top grades in high school, or they do not have the financial means to go to a four-year school. My goal is to show every student that it is not impossible!”

  Think about where you might like to go with your career. Then ask a parent, a teacher, or a guidance counselor to help you map out the best path for you.