CNS 120 Assignment

Autobiographical Exploration
We are the hero of our own story. Mary McCarthy, author
Some contemporary career theorists believe that careers are part of the unfolding
story in our lives. They say that these stories have a narrative pattern, a plot (Luzzo,
2011) and when the stories are recorded, create and uncover a theme or themes.
The plot and the theme of a story make it compelling.
This theory, primarily developed by Dr. Mark Savickas, encourages individuals to
reflect in order to see a path forward; to incorporate the sum of experience to
consider what may lie ahead and what may motivate each person. The exercise
puts the individual in charge of selecting the important stories, the theme and
deciding how that will move the story and the hero/heroine forward.
This assignment will be completed in 2 steps. First, I want you to figure out your
story by working through these questions, which are listed in the MCS: My Career
Story workbook (http://www.vocopher.com/CSI/CCI_workbook.pdf):
Tell three of your earliest recollections from when you were 3-6 years old. Use as
much detail as you can but keep the recollection brief. Limit yourself to the most
vivid and important details. Use no more than 500 words per story. Print a copy of
these stories and either underline or highlight the descriptor words or phrases.
When I was about 4 or 5 years old I would always walk around the house
singing, dancing, or just simple talking. And my parents caught wind of
this from a pretty early age, and I remember one day my dad came home
from work with a package, and inside that package was a microphone. I
remember my eyes immediately lighting up. In a non-malicious way I
snatched the microphone with excitement, quickly ran into the house and
plugged it up into the big speakers that we had in the living room at the
time. Annoyingly I would talk into that microphone with the speakers
turned all the way up all day and all night. Much to my parents annoyance;
however, I just loved to communicating and entertaining people.
Around the same time period, I made my first public speech for the preschool I was attending at the time. During black history month, my preschool/Kindergarten always has a big program open to the community,
local universities etc. Similarly within that program, there is always a big
speaker, and a prayer given by a student in the pre-school. Well this year
it was my turn to introduce the speaker, say the prayer AND memorize the
poem, life is often difficult. But instead of being nervous about trying to
recite all of these speeches in front of a large audience. I confidently took
on the challenge and got my handy dandy microphone and practiced every
day, and every waking hour. The day of the speech, I wasnt nervous at all,
I marched up to the stage in front of my friends, family, and some of the
local community in Columbia, SC and recited all three speeches.

Moving up the maturity ladder to a whopping 6 years old I knew I wanted

to try something different, but it was still in the field of entertainment. So
when I saw some fliers about auditions being held for a play at my
elementary school. You know I had to be the first one to jump on this
opportunity. Though I did not get the lead, I didnt care. I just wanted to
be on stage in front of a lot of people entertaining them with my
personality and character. And, yea I only had a few lines, but I practiced
the crap out of those few lines, and interjected so much personality and
feeling into those lines. I gave those lines some Bradley Singleton
personality. I wanted everyone to know who I was by the time the play
was over.
Write about any themes or patterns you notice.
Who did you admire most growing up? Describe this person and the actions or
accomplishments that inspired your admiration. Growing up I would have to say
I admired my mom the most. Whenever situations looked like they were
going astray, I saw her resilience and poise. Her ability to stay strong
when emotions were over flowing. Her ability to keep everything together
in any tough situation. The amount of love she has for people she cares
about. The biggest thing I admire about my mom is her hunger for more.
She is never satisfied with being average. Whether it is getting her PhD or
always looking for job openings or promotions because she wants better
for her and her family. I truly love and respect that woman.
Which magazines or TV shows do you watch regularly? What is it that draws you to
these magazines or programs? Unfortunately, I watch a lot of trash TV (reality
shows etc.) primarily for entertainment, but at the same time I watch a
fair amount of news networks. I think what draws me to these news
programs is my dream of being on national television reporting on the
next biggest thing, from entertainment to sports to hard political news. I
envision myself on television and everyone putting their trust me to relay
valuable information to hundreds of thousands of people.
Tell me the story of your favorite book or movie in two paragraphs.
My favorite book is the Bible for a multitude of reasons. Whenever I find
myself being negative or pessimistic about anything as it pertains to life.
Whether it be applying for jobs, studying for tests, or just simply trying
something new fearing the unknown. I always find myself referencing
scriptures in the Bible to get me through any tough time or experience.
Examples being, Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me. Or stories such as the story of David and Goliath, the
story of David, and of course the story of Jesus Christ himself. I use the
Bible as a guide in my decision making in life, and so far it has not steered
me wrong yet.
What is your favorite saying or motto? My favorite motto or saying is, stay
true to who you are.

After you finish answering these questions, you will bring your two printed copies of
your responses to class and we will talk about your answers and how they might
help you begin to choose a career path.
Using your answers and our discussion in class, you will then do your own analysis.
Read over your work for patterns or themes. What do you notice? What seems to
be the most important theme or pattern? What is helpful in connecting your dots?
How will you use this information during the rest of our course?
Once youve completed the assignment, review the rubric on the last page to be
sure youve completed all the requirements at a satisfactory level and post your
results under the Self Assessment area of your ePortfolio.