Can’t I Just Stay in My Room? Educator Resource

 One student. One question. One place to begin. 

Students don’t always need another lecture about what they should be doing.

 Sometimes they need a resource that meets them where they are, helps them understand their options, and gives them room to figure out what comes next.

 When to use this resource 

For students who answer “I don’t know” when someone asks what they want to do after high school.

Can’t I Just Stay in My Room? approaches career exploration without requiring a student to begin with a career choice. Instead, students start by learning about themselves: what they’re good at, what they enjoy, what matters to them, and what kind of life and work might fit.

From there, they learn to research possibilities, compare options, test careers before committing to them, and turn an idea into manageable next steps.

 Students explore 

  • Strengths & Skills: Recognizing both obvious abilities and the everyday strengths students may not think of as career skills.
  • Interests & Work Preferences: Looking beyond favorite subjects and hobbies to consider environments, tasks, interactions, and activities a student actually enjoys.
  • Career Demand & Practicality: Researching employment demand, education and training requirements, salary, stability, and how industries are changing.
  • College & Alternative Pathways: Considering college, majors, trade schools, apprenticeships, short-term training, military service, entrepreneurship, and other possible routes.
  • Career Priorities: Thinking about salary, stability, creativity, work-life balance, independence, helping others, growth, and personal dealbreakers.
  • Real-World Career Testing: Using job shadowing, informational interviews, internships, volunteering, courses, freelance work, and personal projects to learn what a career is actually like.
  • Planning & Taking Action: Turning exploration into specific goals, manageable steps, and a career action plan.
  • Adaptability: Understanding that a first choice does not have to be a permanent choice and learning to recognize transferable skills, changing industries, and opportunities to pivot.

Useful for

Career exploration • Individual counseling • College and career readiness • Advisory programs • Postsecondary planning • Students without a clear career direction • Students overwhelmed by choosing a path • Students reconsidering an existing plan

 TRY THIS WITH A STUDENT 

Download The Hidden Skills Exercise PDF here!