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Helping your chile ren ciscover themselves and
their future in the jo o wor c.

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Jill Davis: "Even the brightest of stu-
dents may not be certain about
what to do with his or her life."

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

9/1
2000

92

hat do you want to be when you
grow up?" used to be a question just
for little children.
These days, it's also a consuming passion for
many young adults. Some students in their
fourth year of college still don't know what they
want to do when they graduate, while even
seasoned professionals can find themselves
wondering, "Is this really what I want to do
with the rest of my life?"
So if that's your situation, what can you do?
#1) Whine a lot
#2) Suffer silently
#3) Do something about it
No. 3 is what Jill Davis of Bloomfield Hills
believes in doing.
Davis, a past president of Temple Kol Ami,
has been a psychotherapist, yoga instructor,
career counselor and high-school counselor
working with adolescents for the past 25 years.
She also is an author of two books on career
planning for different age groups because Davis
believes it is essential for children and adults of
all ages to plan out what they want to do with
their lives.

Such help is available in Life's o Trip, Davis' first
textbook to guide students in finding a career.
Already in use in schools throughout Michigan,
including West Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills and
Birmingham, as well as in New York, California
and Florida, Life's a Trip carries the endorsement of
career counselors.
"Jill's book provides parents, students and coun-
selors with a comprehensive set of tools for college
and career planning," says Dr. Jane Goodman, an
associate professor and director of the Adult
Career Counseling Center at Oakland University's
department of counseling.
"Everything one needs is in one place,"
Goodman says, making the Davis book "the
only such resource that I know. As a career
counselor, I am particularly pleased with the
emphasis on self-assessment as a prelude to
good decision making:"

Getting Kids Planning

Davis' second book, The ABCs of What You Can
Be, aimed qt the younger set, will be published
this fall. Each page has a letter, followed by an
appropriate profession ("C" is for computer techni-
cian; "D" is for dancer; "K" is for karate teacher)
and a brief description of what each job involves.
The book then asks, "Is this what you will be? Yes.
No. Maybe."
In using the book, Davis begins reading, then
encourages children to participate with gesticula-
tions (nod your head when you say "yes"; shake it
as you say "no"), and encourages youngsters to
take over the reading if they can.
She also helps children understand the kinds of
skills each job likely entails.
"What do you think you might have to know if
you're a baker?" she asks.
Answer: You would have to know how to mea-
sure, and how to read.
The message, Davis says, is that important rea-
sons exist for learning why 3/0 is the same as
and why you have to spend so many hours putting
together letters to make words. School actually has
a purpose.

Davis Ponders Topic

After Davis' teaching certificate had expired, and
new state regulations required those renewing
their certificates to take a literacy test, she began