| Navigating The Real World

Jason McIntosh Intro

Jason McIntosh is a Morse graduate who chose to attend a two year community college. He is 24 years old and working for the company that employed him after college.

Posted: 08/27/2010 - 19:46

by: maddywhalen

Other stories:

If I could redo high school...

Planning life after high school

Paying for College

Working at Woodex Bearing Company

Current job

Job Training

Owning cars and a house

Vehicle maintenance

Debt

Commuting to college

Balancing life

Morse High School memories

Erek Gaines Intro

Erek grew up in Falmouth and attended Falmouth High School. After high school, Erek attended the University of Southern Maine where he majored in political science for his undergraduate degree. Erek then went on to earn his graduate degree in law at the University of Southern Maine. Today, Erek works for the IRS as a tax revenue officer.

Posted: 08/19/2010 - 14:49

by: vaydanatasha

Other stories:

Choosing the same path again

Advice on spending money for college

Who does well in college

Challenges of being a tax collector

Setting goals and knowing how to get there

If he could do high school over again

Jennifer Corey Intro

Jennifer grew up in Yarmouth and went to Yarmouth High School. After high school, Jennifer decided to go to Colby College in Waterville where she majored in english and art. Jennifer has worked as a manager at a fine arts supply store in Portland. She is planning on attending law school in Maine in the future.

Posted: 08/19/2010 - 14:29

by: vaydanatasha

Other stories:

Choosing Colby for a boyfriend

Good experience at Colby

Developing important skills at a liberal arts school

Was the cost of college worth it

Maintaining connections with people from your college network

Wishing she had taken a year off before college

The path where she is right know

Challenges of working in a small business

What she imagined for herself in high school

Falling into a certain job unexpectedly

If she had to do it over

Choosing one thing to excel at in high school rather than trying everything

Kristen Muszinsky Intro

Kristen grew up in Lewiston, went to St. Joseph's College. After graduation she got a job at the Journal Tribune in Biddeford, Maine where she is currently working. In this interview Kristen talks about the ins and outs of being a journalist, and the differences between working at a small paper to working at a large paper.

Posted: 08/17/2010 - 16:29

by: sophdoodles

Other stories:

Things She Has Struggled With

Advice On A Career In Journalism

What She Would Have Done Differently

How She Got To Where She Is Professionally

Insight On The Future Of Newspapers

Whether She Felt Prepared After College

Things She Has Struggled With

What She Wishes Someone Had Told Her

Mistakes She Has Made

Kristen Furrow Intro

Kristen grew up in Augusta and graduated from Cony High School in 2002. She then went on to the University of Maine where she studied psychology and graduated in 2006. She is currently employed as an educator at Saco Island School, an alternative high school for students struggling in public school.

Posted: 08/17/2010 - 08:35

by: kjoseph

Other stories:

What she wishes she had considered

Transferring colleges meant taking more classes

Big loans are hard to pay with low wages

A mistake getting an apartment too soon

Relationships were too high a priority

Everything came before academics in high school

Her problem in life

Complications transferring from UMO to USM

Employers don't seem to care which college she went to

What she WAS told but didn't listen to

Sweating the small stuff and not the big stuff in high school

Benjamin Row Intro

Benjamin Row grew up in Kennebunk, and graduated from Kennebunk High School in 2005. He took some time off after high school, first living in New York City, and then working at Biddeford City Theatre under Steve Burnette. Afterward, he attended USM for two years, majoring in theatre. He's currently taking a break from college, partly for financial reasons, and now works as the executive producing director of a theatre company he started, Oh the Hugemanity! He also owns a graphic design firm and works and acts in the theater community.

Posted: 08/16/2010 - 22:48

by: Kyle

Other stories:

College Education in Theatre: Worth the Cost?

You Can't Leave Acting Work at Work

Read a Lot & Form Your Own Opinion of Theatre First

Acting Schools: Do Your Research

Starting a Theatre Company

The Discovery is the Most Important Part (& Shakespeare is Important)

You're in it for the Art (The Business Side Will Come)

Mistakes: Don't be Afraid, They're Awesome (Plus Mixing Monologues On Stage)

Struggles: Money, Method Acting, Misunderstanding

Dealing With Obstacles: Going Off the Grid & Staying Healthy

High School: Finding Yourself Socially & Take Your Education Seriously

Be Honest

Acting is a Transmutable Skill (& Last Words of Advice)

Jeremy Hammond Intro

Jeremy grew up in Bath and graduated from Morse High School. From there he went on to the University of Maine at Farmington where he majored in International Studies. In his last semester at UMF he worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA at Good Shepherd Food-Bank. After his AmeriCorps term was up he accepted a full time job there as a volunteer coordinator.

Posted: 08/16/2010 - 16:47

by: kjoseph

Other stories:

High amounts of student debt from a state school

Working at Good Shepherd Food-Bank

Courses in college gave him a unique perspective for working in a nonprofit

Make sure college is worth the debt before you go

Challenges dealing with health insurance for the first time

Sarah Musgrave Intro

Sarah Musgrave grew up in Lewiston, Maine and graduated from Lewiston High School Class of '99. During high school she became a certified nurses assistant. She went to college for one year after high school, and then joined the military, through the marine corps. She went back to college when she got out of the military, and got her associates in Criminal Justice at State Fair Community College in Missouri. She now lives in Maine with her husband and two children, working as a homemaker. She plans to go back to college and get her bachelors.

Posted: 08/16/2010 - 15:26

by: Kyle

Other stories:

Nurses Assistent Training Program During High School

Why She Left College

Independant People Work Well in the Military

Prepare Yourself for the Military

Talk to Someone Who Just Finished Boot Camp

Glad She Waited to Go to College

Criminal Justice Progam Geared Towards Becoming a Cop

Didn't Want to Spend Time Studying in High School

Mistakes: Selfabsorbed in High School and Didn't Research the Military

Do Over: Respect the World More

Follow Your Heart - Don't Go To College If You're Not Ready

Struggled with Academics and Asthma in the Military

Larissa Moody Intro

Larissa grew up in Portland and graduated in 2010 from Portland High School. She has worked at least 40 hours a week throughout her high school career and while she still lives at home she has been supporting herself for several years. After her father's death during her junior year of high school she left school, but continued to work full-time at Subway. After four months she returned to school and graduated with her class in May. In the fall she will attend CMCC and plans to have a career in radiology.

Posted: 08/12/2010 - 16:08

by: kjoseph

Other stories:

Working full-time in high school

Losing her father and leaving school

Amazing feeling graduating from high school

Doing it all on her own

Friends skipping classes and her decision not to

Just keep at it

Nobody is going to hire you to do something that's not disgusting in high school

Staying on top of scholarships and deadlines for college

Would change some of the strict rules in high school

You'll do so much more in life than high school

Plans for college

Forced to grow up fast

Mike Hunt and Matt DuBois Intro

Mike and Matt met while attending The Connecticut Culinary Institute. After graduating from there, they decided to open a bakery together. They renovated an old bank, and turned it into a well established bakery. For the past two years, Mike and Matt have started doing wedding cakes, which have brought in even more business.

Posted: 08/12/2010 - 13:42

by: sophdoodles

Other stories:

Qualities They Seek In Employees

Things They Have Struggled With

Suggestions On Opening a Business

Mistakes They've Made With Their Business

What They Would Have Done Differently

How They Got To Where They Are Professionally

On What They Wish They Had Been Told

How They Started Their Business

Good and Bad Things Related To The Hiring Process

Facebook Page

Find us on Facebook!

Printed Edition PDF

The printed edition was delivered to all Maine high school students at the end of April.

Check it out here.

(The links are clickable.)

Our next printed edition will be out for the fall semester.

Tell your stories

Tell your stories and help current high school students:

1. If you are from Maine and in your 20s.

2. If you work with Maine people in their 20s.

Post your own stories
In video In text

Or interview interesting people for us:

Post interviews
In video In text

Features

How Jay Harper brings interviewing to the classroom

Jay Harper is the Freeport High School JMG Specialist. For months his students have been interviewing young professionals in career fields that interest them about their experiences since high school. Hear Jay talk about how the interview project is working in his classroom.

What not to do in an interview

It's pretty easy to interview someone for theDailyMistake, but Seth found five ways to screw it up before he got it right.

Our Sponsors

Meet employees of some of our sponsors:

NavigatingTheRealWorld.org is produced by Navigating the Real World, Inc., a Portland, Maine, based nonprofit 501(c)3 organization that will launch the companion publication, Navigating The Real World, in high schools all across Maine in Spring 2010. Our purpose is to gather and publish information and perspectives to help people in their teens and 20s navigate important life decisions and challenges - and to have some fun while we are doing this! Over the coming year we will roll out a range of new offerings using social media and other communication and information technology.

©2009 NavigatingTheRealWorld.org