Free samples are one of those little things in life that make everyone happy. Honestly, I believe that the free samples at Costco are the main reason so many people shop there, or at least I know it is for me. We all like to get a little something for nothing, but it’s also nice to actually try something before we purchase it. It’s like when we go to a fifty flavors ice cream shop with the tiny spoons that allow us to sample multiple flavors before they fill our cones with something we have never tried. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do the same thing when it comes to our jobs? Before we commit to work somewhere full-time, maybe we could try it for a week or so until we find just the right fit.
Luckily, I am a teacher and always knew I wanted to be a teacher since first grade, but some people don’t know what their calling is this early in life. During my career, I trained student teachers, and I had a few who decided they didn’t enjoy teaching after their experiences even though they had already spent 4 years at college to earn a teaching degree. Unfortunately, their first real experience in the classroom came after they had invested money, energy, and time in a career they didn’t love. This should never happen , and that’s why we do things differently at CORE.
At CORE we help individuals with disabilities find gainful employment; but more than that, we help our participants find employment they enjoy. Interestingly, some of our participants come to us with no ideas on what they are really interested in doing, so we guide them through a months-long process, Discovery. During this phase, we get to know our participants by finding their dreams or passions. We take simple ideas to the next level and give our individuals with disabilities opportunities to experience them in real life.These real life situations can help guide our participants to pinpoint what they really love.
Recently, I had my hair done at a beauty shop, and my regular gal had an apprentice working with her. I asked the young girl if she knew she always wanted to style hair; she said yes, but what she really loves about the job is talking to the clients. She likes the direct intimate one-on-one. I told her she could’ve just been a talk show host.
Another interesting example of finding one’s passion occurred with one of our individuals with disabilities. He knew he wanted to work in law enforcement when he came to us, but then after some experiences during Discovery, he decided no. What he learned is that he loves a job that comes with a uniform and now he works at a movie theatre in a uniform.
We invite all individuals with disabilities to join us at CORE to go through Discovery to get little samples of what they think they are interested in so they can truly discover their real passions.
