#211 How to Use Course Scheduling to Demonstrate Fit and Direction Transcript

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED TRANSCRIPT… PLEASE FORGIVE THE TYPOS & GRAMMAR! xo-Lisa.

Lisa Marker-Robbins

Welcome back to college and career clarity for another solo episode. I told you guys last week when we celebrated our fourth anniversary, that you’re gonna have more solo episodes in 2026 so here we are. Today. We’re going to talk about course scheduling, and I don’t want anybody to go ahead and tune me out. It’s not going to be boring. It’s not going to be only for high school students. We’re going to hit high school students first and and to make this easy for you, if you want to jump around, we’re going to have timestamps in the show notes, so high school students and their families first up, we’re going to talk about course selection, but not in the way that you have before. We’re going to look at it as an opportunity to do something a little different. College students, we’ve got something for you, even though, right now, when this episode drops live, is not the time that you’re selecting courses. And if you have a young adult, you know we love 15 to 25 year olds. If you have a young adult who’s out of school, maybe they’ve graduated from high school or college and they’re just not sure what’s next. They might even feel like they’re falling a little bit behind, or they’re floundering. We have something for you too. So everybody stick with me. Remember, go to the show notes. Skip ahead if you want to the section that’s relevant for you, but I think you’re going to get something out of every section. So this applies whether when you’re listening to this, you’re thinking, my goal is to get into college, or maybe as lands a job, it’s going to be helpful for both. See, we view course selection, taking classes, learning as continuous and an opportunity, not just a requirement. Did you hear that it’s not just about checking a box? It’s a lifelong attitude that can serve us all? I continue to take classes well into my 50s, and I’m always learning something. I love it. So by the time we’re finished today, here’s the deal. You’re going to understand the intentionality with which to treat making these decisions, no matter what age you are, and how to use them as a way to differentiate yourself, to take action next steps, to gain momentum and traction and set yourself apart. You know, this is an opportunity, not an obligation. Many people view this as an obligation. It’s something I have to do, I have to schedule my classes, I have to go to school next year. But when we reframe it as an opportunity, everything changes. Okay? So first up high school students, parents, families. You know, typically the January, February timeframe is super relevant with this topic, because this is the time that we’re selecting classes for next year. So scheduling and what your choices are that come out of just that piece, and I’m going to give you more, is one of the clearest signals that you can send to others about your direction and the seriousness for which you’re attacking that direction, right? It can demonstrate, can demonstrate fit, or it can support that you’re doing a validation process. And there’s, there’s really two ways that we’re going to look at this. When I think about high school students, there’s two groups of them. So the first group is students who have a validated direction. They know what’s coming after graduation, if that’s College, they’ve decided on the major that maybe not the college yet, but they’ve decided on the major or the career pathway that they’re on. So here we’re looking for alignment, rather than just stacking for rigor, I see kids all the time. They’re they’re chasing that way to GPA. They’re making choices in that way. Instead of saying, Hey, I’m going to signal to others that I have alignment with the direction that I’m heading. And because of that, because I’ve thoughtfully done that, I’m who you want, whether it’s for a college, an apprenticeship or a full time employment after college, right? So colleges and employment is really competitive, and so this is why we need to come up with ways to make you stand out. See, this isn’t about. Doing the hardest schedule possible. It’s about finding fit and alignment. You know, we just we talked about this last year. Rick Clark, who used to be Director of Admissions at Georgia Tech and now is about, he works there still, but with about access and things like that. I forget his exact title, but he was on the show in April, and it was our most popular episode of 2025 and he talked about, for the college admissions piece that it is about demonstrating fit. He has this term we assess fit to major, and that’s what happens around the table when we’re looking at students. So if you want to go back and listen to that, and it might help frame up some of the decisions that you’re getting ready to make, I’m going to link to it in the show notes. So that is with Rick Clark from last April, and we replayed it as our last episode in 2025

Lisa Marker-Robbins  05:57

now the second group of students are those who are like, I’m too young. I have no clue what I want to do. I’m still exploring and validating and you know what? That’s okay for many of you, that’s right where you should be, and you’re not behind, right? The only time we’re behind is if we’re missing a deadline that takes some options off the table. And that is possible. The older you get, the more options that come off the table. But for the typical high school student who is still validating what the plan after graduation is, or if they’re headed to college, what the major in the career is, the high school classes that you take are a low risk way of testing your interest, and when you test the interest, now, maybe you’re thinking about architecture, and they use CAD all the time. That would be a fantastic class to take to go, Okay, how does that fit? To use the software to design, but it’s assisted design. How intuitive Am I at understanding programs, things like that? So it’s a way to test the interest, to validate the career, and when you do so, let me give you a gentle reminder that during the exploration and validation process, getting a no. So you take that cat class and you go like, that was the worst. It’s not for me, getting a no is just as valuable as getting a yes. See, it’s just getting the answer. It’s not about just getting Yes. So I want to layer one more thing on, and this really goes for both groups. Some of your high schools offer courses that result in industry recognized credentials, industry recognized credentials. And so this is something that, if you can, you can achieve that in high school. That is a double whammy. Okay, other things to think about here in my home state of Ohio, we have something called credit flex, and this is offered in other states. I don’t have it memorized, which states that credit flex means that you can do maybe an internship, or you could do work, or I had a previous student that I was working with who was interested, career wise, he was still in the validation process of going into atmospheric science and meteorology, not the kind that is on TV, the Real like science behind the weather part, right? His high school didn’t offer anything for him to explore that, but for the BYU online high school, he was able to take a class in meteorology, and it ended up on his local high school transcript, because that in our state, we have in Ohio, we have credit flex, so you might want to search beyond the container of what is offered in that I still call it the course catalog, even though it’s online. It’s not an actual catalog anymore. But go online, take a look, but then think outside the box too, particularly if you’ve got options like dual enrollment or credit flex in your state, and you know what the group that has the best opportunity here are the homeschoolers, they have a lot of flexibility here, and that’s a win for you. So keep thinking outside the box, and remember, as you’re making your choices, the guiding question for you that you want to consider is, will this course help me either validate direction or demonstrate fit to employers and colleges? Okay, let’s fast forward college students. So I know the timing might feel a little bit off. You’re like, I just selected this semester’s classes in October, I won’t be selecting classes again till March, but bear with me, because there’s some really great things that you need to be thinking about. So this isn’t just about meeting your graduation requirements. It’s about making room for high value experiences that employers love, real world experiences. Too, or industry recognized credentials that I mentioned for the high schoolers. See, there’s that through line of some of these ideas. So what you need to be thinking about with this as you’re creating space, is internships, research leadership projects, where you get real world experience. And I’m not just talking about, you know, if you’re listening to this in real time, what you’ll take next fall in college, but I want you to begin to look at opportunities, maybe even shorter ones. You’ve got a spring break coming up. If you don’t have a trip to the beach planned, maybe you’re going to take a industry recognized credential course online through an organization like Coursera. These can be low cost, some of them free, and a great strategic use of your breaks, spring break, summer break, fall break, winter break, where you’re stacking on learning course selections that are going to add value to the degree or the other training that you’re already doing. What you’re doing here is you’re doing skill building. Everybody’s going to want to stay tuned to next week’s episode. I’ve got Jeff selingo. He’s going to dig in. He did dig in with me, and we’re going to release it next week, on February 3. He digs in with me to this idea of employers increasingly value skills and credentials above second majors above many majors in the classes that you take. So you’re going to want to tune in next week as well. Okay, for those of you who have graduated high school or college and still feel like you’re falling behind. Maybe it’s too late. First of all, it’s never too late. This is figure outable. I want you to hear me, and I also want you to think about the fact the best mindset shift that you could make that is going to open up doors to opportunities to get Career Clarity is that learning doesn’t stop after the graduation line after we move out of the traditional classroom in high school and college. See while career advising that we do might happen like a place in time on the timeline of life career development, as I mentioned before, is lifelong. So even though you’ve left the traditional classroom, there’s still opportunity that classes can be restarted. See, this is not a step backwards. This is not something like, oh, I screwed up. No, this is growth. Classes and coursework mean growth. And what you do if it’s post graduation, is you start looking at look at job postings that you’re thinking of if you’ve got a target job, look at the job postings and go, What are the skills, the credentials, the learning that employers are valuing? What are they signaling to you? This is one of my favorite things with LinkedIn. Go get my LinkedIn profile builder at flourish coaching code.com forward slash LinkedIn. It will help you get online, start to build your community and learn how to use LinkedIn to signal what you need to be going after when you do that, this structure and this thoughtfulness of, okay, I’m going to do something, begins to create clarity alone. See, getting unstuck is often going to start with learning something new. And here’s the other thing you know, the world is telling people that, telling young people, and I hate this because it’s a lie that you know you’ve got to find your passion. You’ve got to find that one passion. I’m going to tell you that my passions have shifted over time. My purpose has not because it was rooted in self awareness about how I was wired and what my purpose in this world is but my passions, they have shifted over time. So don’t feel the pressure to find the one passion, because what I’ve learned, even with graduates who go back and they take a class to get a credential that employers are going to love,

Lisa Marker-Robbins  14:16

passion often increases as proficiency increases. Young people all the time say, Oh, well, I don’t know how to do that. I can’t go after that career. No, we take the courses, we get the training, we get the real world experiences to teach us the skills that employers want. You’re not expected to know it yet, yet being the key word, you will be expected to know it at some point. So here’s what I want everyone to be thinking about. You are signaling by your choices about your direction and your readiness, making these scheduling choices will shape the options that you have. Of in your future, there are real consequences. So that’s why I’m urging everyone, high school students, college students, those who have already graduated from either to be intentional, because when you do this with intention is going to have a calming effect. It’s going to lower the emotion and the pressure that you’re feeling because you’re doing something, and it’s rooted in a reason why. So if you or your student are still validating career fit, and you’re going like, okay, we’re in the validation process, but we’re really wanting to know before we go and you want a clearer framework for making these kinds of decisions. That’s the work that we do inside launch Career Clarity. We exist to support the process that points you in the right direction, so to learn more when you’re ready. No pressure. Go ahead and go to flourish coaching, CO, com, forward, slash course, and if you’re just ready to get a little bit more support and guidance instead, go ahead and join our newsletter at flourish coaching co.com forward slash newsletter. Okay, join me next week as we dig into this idea of making dream school, dream college decisions that are rooted in a career ROI. Have a great week.