By Drew Williams/reporter

For many students, the hardest part of college isn’t studying but trying to figure out why they are in college, NW Campus students learned last week.

In What Do I Want to be When I Grow Up? Turning Your Passion into a Major and Your Major into a Career, Dr. Shelly Cavin, counselor, and Tracy Williams, career and employment services coordinator, aimed to help students find what career fit them best.

Before they started, Cavin and Williams asked the students to fill out copies of the personality tests on each of the tables.

The tests included 36 word-pairings. To get the best results, students were instructed to pick the word that stuck out to them on first impulse. Some examples of the word-pairings were “facts-possibilities,” “plan-improvise” and “start-finish.” By assessing which words the students picked, they could then see whether they were introverts or extroverts.

Cavin and Williams explained that introverts like to keep to themselves for the most part, and extroverts usually like to be the life of the party.

“Knowing whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert is huge when it comes to picking a major and finding a job you will like and continue to like for a long time,” Cavin said. “For example, you could have an extrovert who is really good at numbers and convinces himself that he would be good at accounting, but once he gets into the career field, he hates it because he loves to be around people.”

The personality test also reveals details on other characteristics, such as whether someone is a thinker or a feeler.

Sophomore Brandon Hay attended the speech and liked what he learned from Cavin and Williams.

“For the most part, I agree with the personality test results and can see myself doing some of the jobs it had in mind for me,” he said. “Plus, I found out that I have the same personality type as Elvis. So I’m thinking about just growing out some sideburns and picking up a guitar and seeing if that can get me anywhere.”

NW students who missed the event but are interested in seeing what the personality tests have to offer can visit www.tccd-nw.myplan.com, a part of MyPlan.com, for more information or to take the tests themselves.

For more information on career guidance or MyPlan.com, contact NW career services at 817-515-7785 or e-mail nw.careerservices@tccd.edu.