Your career road map: From aha moment to dream job

Once you experience your aha moment, it’s just the first step towards fulfilling your career ambitions


By Jennifer Wyatt Bourgeois, Faculty Member, Criminal Justive with American Military University

As a child, your teacher might have asked the class, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I remember in my classroom filled with 6 and 7 year olds, my fellow classmates declared with excitement and giddiness, “I want to be an astronaut,” or “I want to be a police officer.” When it was my turn, I stood up, cleared my throat and said with pride, “I want to be a doctor when I grow up.”

Fast forward 25 years, and I’ve ended up pursuing a career in criminal justice. I’ve been a probation officer, Federal Special Agent for the Department of Immigration, a forensic scientist and now, as a Criminal Justice professor, I stand before students (or do so virtually, in an online discussion forum) and ask the same question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

An aha moment is “a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension.
An aha moment is “a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension.

I have received responses ranging from blank stares to “I don’t know” to the elaborate response from the student who knows exactly what they want to pursue.

Full story: Your career road map: From aha moment to dream job

Recommended for you

Join the discussion

Get Paramedic Chief in your inbox

Thanks! You've been successfully signed up for the Paramedic Chief

Copyright © 2023 EMS1. All rights reserved.