What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? by Annie Gagne

Isn't that what we were asked as children on a regular basis? What do you want to be when you grow up, or what do you want to do with your life? We've already featured a few blogs about careers, but I thought we could expand on those a little more to the include the various literary references we have in the Library that can aid you in answering these questions.

Last month we featured a blog about Career Coach and how that can be used a valuable tool to help narrow your passions down to a few career fields you might find rewarding. Let's add to that! Here are a few fields and books that you might find resourceful while exploring your classes and your options:

Criminal Justice

There is so much to do and unpack here! As a graduate of a Criminal Justice program (and a proud graduate of NHTI - Concord's Community College Paralegal Certificate program), I know just how much there is to do and see in this field. Also, to answer your first question, there is more to do with a Criminal Justice degree than become a police officer. While that is a great career choice, did you know individuals with a CJ degree can go into the legal profession (as I did), or become a Juvenile Probation Officer or even an Information Secutiry Officer that deals with cybersecurity? Here are a few books on those topics that you may find helpful:  

Juvenile Crime and Justice by William Chambliss 

Developing Cybersecurity Programs and Policies by Omar Santos

The Paralegal Professional by Thomas F. Goldman

Landscape Design

Talk about a great way to combine a love for being outdoors with the fulfillment of creating a spectacular space! Maybe the desk life doesn't appeal to you as much as working outside with your hands, have you ever considered landscape design? This about it, you have the opportunity to take an area, maybe a garden or a backyard, and turn it into a functional recreational space to hang with friends. How about some water features, or incorporating a rock wall of sorts? Check out these books for more options on how to develop into this career:

Landscaping with Stone by Pat Sagui 

Landscaping for Privacy: Innovative Ways to Turn Your Outdoor Space into a Peaceful Retreat by Marty Wingate 

Wedding Planning Management

 NHTI - Concord's Community College offers a wonderful certificate program in Wedding Planning Management. Have you ever seen The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez and thought, I would love to do that!? I know I have (yes, even still to this day)! There is so much to know and do in this field, it's hard to even know where to start. The logistics, the organization, networking with vendors and so on. Event management is such a diverse field, here are a few books about the wedding side of event management: Wedding Planning and Management:

 Consultancy for Diverse Clients by Maggie Daniels

 Events Exposed: Managing and Designing Special Events by Lena Malouf