Introduction
If you're a middle school (or junior high school) student already thinking ahead to college and career, then bravo! Good for you! Outstanding! You're well on your way to success already. Most students wait too long and never adequately plan out their educational and career goals. You’ve beaten the odds already by just being here and investigating your options. The next step is for you to lay out an academic path that best compliments who you are and best prepares you for what you want to be. You can take control of future success today by simply deciding to make it your plan.

A Time for Exploring
The junior high school years are a great time to begin exploring. Start by learning about what interests you. Make it a point to start taking lots of different courses so that you can explore the various subjects that might one day lead to a career. Pay attention to what subjects you like the most and which ones you're good at. Try lots of extracurriculars – they'll not only help you expand the scope of your exploration into different activities, but they'll also help you in building up a personal portfolio for future college applications. Finally, this is a great time for you to begin taking career assessment tests. These tests help you understand what careers best match your personality, interests, skills and values.

Career Planning
It's never too early to start thinking about a career. At the very least, you should begin exploring different occupations so that you get a sense for what interests you. This will allow you to plan out your coursework according or simply give you ideas for classes you might want to take just to explore potential interests. Below, you will find an introduction to just some of the career-related resources available to you on our site.