Health and Human Services Professional Development

Making Happiness Happen by   Mikki Sherwood   on   August 28, 2013   Think that making more than $50,000 per year or living in a better climate will solve all of your problems? Think again. According to designer Stefan Sagmeister, you can train your mind to focus on happiness and overall well-being. Sagmeister’s rules for happiness include: having meaningful friendships and relationships, doing more of what you want to do and less of what you do not like, using variety (in tools and techniques), making sure you get the end results you want, and getting involved in projects where about half of the information is new and the other half is familiar. You are in charge of your own destiny, so try to train your subconscious mind. Finding a career that you enjoy and that allows you to take Mr. Sagmeister’s suggestions (e.g., be involved in projects that are familiar, yet challenging) could facilitate  your  happiness. If you are at the point in your acade...

Are Your Digital Habits Influencing Your Productivity? by   Jill Bowers   on   August 29, 2013   Although modern technology tools can help us to achieve our goals and in an efficient manner, we also need to be cognizant of how much time we are spending on email, Facebook, or site surfing at large. You may want to consider logging the amount of hours you spend online or texting on an average day. It may be surprising to learn how friends’ status updates or text messages are prohibiting you from completing important and even urgent tasks. In his book,   The 4-Hour Work Week ,  Tim Ferris recommended setting aside certain times of day to respond to emails. Following this model, on days or weeks where you need to complete urgent and important tasks to meet your goals, you may want to consider checking in online once in the morning or last thing in the evening and disconnecting from email, Facebook, Twitter, or other online communication tools the rest of ...

Take Control of Your Time by   Tami Duzan   on   August 31, 2013 “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future!”  These lyrics sung by the Steve Miller Band summarize what happens to many of us.  Do you ever feel like time is slipping away and you don’t know how you’re going to juggle everything you have to do?  Here are a couple of tips and some resources that may help you manage your time so that you don’t feel overwhelmed and stressed. Evaluate, Prioritize and Compartmentalize! 1) Your first task is to evaluate all of the time suckers in your life, whether that be school, friends, work, family, exercise, spiritual/religious activities, gaming, or other hobbies.  Make sure you acknowledge everything that is time consuming. 2) Take a look at your list and decide if each item is really necessary at this point in your life. 3) Once you’ve determined which activities should be on your list, start prioritizing and compartmenta...

Will You Live the American Dream? by   Mikki Sherwood   on   September 10, 2013   Adam Levin   is the former Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs and is the founder of Credit.com and Identity Theft 911. He recently posted on   Huffington Post’s   Business Blog. He titled his writing,   “The New American Dream: It’s Not What You Think.”   Mr. Levin cites a recent credit.com poll that found that approximately one in four people between the ages of 18 and 24 would describe the “American Dream” as being free of debt. Interestingly, in the past, home ownership was the definition of the American Dream. Historically home ownership has been seen as the pinnacle of stability and success for U.S. Americans. In fact, old laws required that citizens be required to own a home before being allowed to register to vote. The recession, however, has caused young adults to view the ownership of a home as far out of reach. In fact, basic...

Fun with a Food Science Career by   Melanie Burns   on   September 10, 2013   One of the many aspects I love about being a dietetics professional is that you can pair your passion of foods and nutrition with other passions in your life.  The video,  Disney in the Life of Food Science , highlights that you can pair your love of Disney with your love of food in the effort to bring more healthful foods to families whether they are vacationing on a Disney property or purchasing the foods in the supermarket.  I challenge you to  think about your passions and how you could blend them to develop your perfect job. *Originally posted on the Career Skillet website (Permission granted by Jill Bowers).

WHAT IS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES? Students who study human development and family studies (HDFS) gain an understanding of how individuals and families develop across the life span and how individuals and families are shaped by the environment and culture. HDFS students learn how to optimize individual well-being, strengthen family relationships, and become leaders in community, education, and work settings that focus on issues which include, but are not limited to: Teen pregnancy Sexuality education Child and elder abuse Grandparents raising grandchildren Balancing work and family Drug and alcohol abuse Media literacy Divorce Romantic relationships Parenting Family diversity Children with special needs

Are Membership Dues Worth It? by   Jill Bowers   on   September 11, 2013   I was recently an invited guest speaker in a career/professional development course for seniors. When talking about the importance of networking to students’ professional development, I had one student who raised concerns about membership dues in national organizations. She asked if it would be sufficient to get involved at state or student levels rather than a national organization because she had heard it was more expensive to get involved in national organizations. Excellent question! My response to this question is: no,   it is not absolutely necessary for undergraduates…, and you have to decide what is right and feasible for YOU . There are a variety of national organizations you could get involved in for any given major. If you are a family and consumer sciences’ student, see your “area of study” on the  family and consumer sciences page  for a list of profes...

Depression in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood by   Sierra Rhymes   on   September 24, 2013   Many adolescents and emerging adults suffer from depression although individuals tend to associate depression with middle or older adulthood. Adolescence is a time marked with rapid physical development (e.g., hormonal changes), and emerging adulthood is often characterized by increased autonomy and responsibility. These are also periods where many individuals critique themselves and explore their identity.  A variety of physical, cognitive, and social-emotional changes and experiences, such as the aforementioned, have been linked to depression in adolescents or emerging adults. Depression is a common condition for every age, gender and race. However, it is often unrecognized, or it may not be diagnosed, especially during adolescence and emerging adulthood. According to Arya, R., Baroilhet, S., Fritsch, R., Montero-Marin, J., and Montgomery, A. (2013) approxim...

Enough Said. Job FAIL. by   Mikki Sherwood   on   October 17, 2013   Picture retrieved from:  http://cheezburger.com/ *Originally posted on the Career Skillet website (Permission granted by Jill Bowers).

Sup, Doc? Approaching Professionals At Conferences the Right Way by   Jeremy Kanter, Guest Author   on   October 18, 2013   I attended my first national conferences last year for professional organizations in my field, The National Council on Family Relations and The Association of Family & Conciliation Courts. I had worked with a few professors, and our conference proposals were accepted. I was stoked because 1 – I got free trips to California and Arizona, 2 – I was excited to present my research and learn from other research presentations (yes, I am a dork), and 3 – I knew I would be applying for graduate schools this year and these conferences would be a great opportunity to network with students and professors at other Universities! At the same time, I had no idea what to do with myself.  So, I talked to my professors and other mentors about what I should wear, how I should approach others at the conferences, and how I could make the most out of my ...

Among the Employed by   Jill Bowers   on   October 24, 2013   According to a study at   Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce (via  Yahoo! Education ) , graduates of the following discipline areas were   least likely to be unemployed: Nursing   (unemployment rate: 4.8%),   Elementary education   (unemployment rate: 5%),   Physical fitness and parks and recreation   (unemployment rate: 5.2%),   Chemistry   (unemployment rate: 5.8%),   Finance   (unemployment rate: 5.9%),   Mathematics   (unemployment rate: 5.9%),   Hospitality management   (unemployment rate: 6%),   Drama, theatre, and arts   (unemployment rate: 6.4%),   Family and consumer sciences   (unemployment rate: 6.4%), and   Marketing and marketing research   (unemployment rate: 6.9%). Rationale for higher employment rates in certain fields could be linked to natio...