Thinking About Life After High School
What’s in store for me after high school?“You shouldn’t wait until after high school to start thinking about your future path,”warns Virginie Baudelot. Especially since, when making their decision, young people are faced with another unknown: the world of work.
“What should I base my decision on? How can I know which path I’ll really enjoy?”
New Horizons
Virginie, an occupational psychologist, serves asthe “secondary and higher education liaison”at the University of Montpellier. According to her, high school students view the period after graduation as a real leap into the unknown.“College? High school students have no idea what that entails! It encompasses many different fields of study and degree programs. What they do know are certain parts ofUM an engineering school like Polytech, the College of Sciences or the College of Medicine, or even the IUT.”
Explore the Campus
Throughout the year, the university also offers many helpful events. The“High School Students at the University”program helps students get a sense of what their future might look like. The idea is to welcome high school students to campus so they can get a taste of the university experience, whether for a full day or a half-day. It’s a chance to discover this new world and overcome their fear of the unknown…
Classes come with their teachers: more and more of them are signing up for this program, which was launched in 2006 in partnership with the Montpellier Regional Education Office and high schools in the area. The program includes lectures and tutorials, as well as discussions with student volunteers who share their personal experiences—a particularly popular part of the event.
“We focus mainly on the first year, highlighting the new challenges they’ll face. We provide practical information: student jobs, scholarships, and housing.” Above all, the goal is to explain the different academic tracks and types of programs in detail, to help each student find the path that’s right for them. But it’s also about debunking certain misconceptions:“We’re not here to sell a fantasy, but to set the record straight: Is college easy because there’s no admissions process? False! Are the job placement rates good? True!”
Taking an active role in one's education
In the first semester, 750 students from the school district were able to explore the Triolet campus and immerse themselves in a daily life they had never imagined. In the second semester, 1,500 students are expected to participate. Their first major realization is“the need to be independent and organized, to chart one’s own course, and to take the initiative,”within a campus perceived as“a small town within the city, with its own cultural, social, community, and athletic life.”
In these sessions designed to help them take full ownership of their educational journey, high school students discover a flexible environment where it’s possible—and sometimes even recommended—to change course along the way.“Changing direction can be a good idea. An internship, a job, a gap year in France or abroad? Why not! In higher education, you shape your own path—even if it means taking detours—and you can even use those experiences to your advantage when applying for a master’s program or entering the workforce.”
> Questions about your studies? The Joint University Service for Information, Guidance, and Career Placement (SCUIO-IP) guides you through your studies, from high school all the way to your first job.