Consider Your Purpose, Explore Your Career!
Student Bootcamp
What do you want to be when you grow up? What are you going to major in? What is your dream job? As high school students, chances are you hear these questions a lot from adults who are invested in your bright future — and you might be asking them yourself.
The world is your oyster, but if you’re not *entirely* sure what that bright future should look like, it can feel overwhelming. If college is in the cards, how do you decide a major that leads to a future career? How do you choose a job, let alone a “career”, and move into the working world with intention? What mark do you want to leave on your community?
Learning about career pathways that align with your authentic self is a great way to approach these questions! nXu’s Career Exploration Bootcamp is an interaction program for inquisitive, courageous students ready to start exploring their direction (and have a lot of fun with teens from across the US!). Our action-packed, collaborative sessions will help you understand who you are and integrate your purpose into an empowering roadmap of what’s possible.
Your strengths and goals can unfold into a meaningful future!
“The two most important days in life are the day you are born and the day you discover the reason why.”
“I like that I found other youths like me who have such awesome aspirations. I feel motivated knowing that I’m not just the only youth thinking about how to truly help the world and not just have a job. ”
What to Expect in nXu’s Purpose Bootcamp
Get to know yourself
Getting real about what makes you tick — what you love, what excites you, what you’re great at, and how you want to impact the world — is the first step in identifying your purpose. We’ll uncover your sense of purpose by reflecting on your core values, highlighting your strengths, and exploring the other important things that make you, “you”. In drowning out the “shoulds” and expectations, you’ll zero in on who you want to become. Let’s set you up to shine!
FIND YOUR PEOPLE
nXu bootcamps are an instant community of curious, brave high school students who are wrestling with the same questions as you. It is powerful to explore with others who can support and motivate you along the way, so we’ll work in squads to explore career paths and try them on for size. Make meaningful connections and flex your interpersonal skills as you build the confidence (and the cheerleading squad) to follow your dreams.
EXPAND YOUR PERSPECTIVE
When you understand your strengths, interests, and values, you can start to recognize how they intersect and influence your professional roadmap. Together we’ll explore diverse career pathways and learn about opportunities you might never have considered for your future. We’ll build your toolkit and create a plan so you can take bold steps into uncharted territory, crushing it in college and beyond!
“I really think that it made my goals in life a lot more meaningful and more achievable to myself. I also love that in addition to ending with finding my purpose, I’ve also ended with so many friends!”
“I liked how this session really made us think about what drives us as people and what really keeps us going. I enjoyed that everyone was able to share their thoughts and opinions without being judged, but instead being encouraged.”
Educators & parents: Did you read this with a student in mind?
Here is why we think purpose is so important for the teens that you care about.
Why Purpose Matters
Think about writing an essay without a thesis statement. Where would you even begin? You may be making progress, but it’s almost impossible to understand how it all ties together or what drives it forward. Moving through life without knowing your purpose is the same — developing our purpose provides a through line that lets us see the forest through the trees.
Even though we know how much it matters, only 25% of high school students have a clear sense of purpose and few know how to capitalize on their strengths. Students with a greater understanding of their gifts and their vision have a stronger drive to explore career choices and professional identities (Anthis, 2014; Beyers & Luyckx, 2016), and opportunities to try diverse roles on for size develops the range of skills to pursue meaningful work (Gallup, 2019; Malin, 2015). Living in alignment makes you better equipped to handle stress and anxiety, improving your mental and physical health along with your resiliency.
Here’s how our amazing alumni articulated their purpose to propel their next steps:
As a young, black first generation American man from a Jamaican family who values uniqueness and knowledge and is curious about communicating and reflecting to inspire others, my purpose in life is to use my leadership, adaptability, thinking and storytelling, combined with my love for exploring and creating to take down the biases in the world and implement unity within minorities and people of color to achieve justice. - Donniae, NYC
As a religious African American woman my purpose in life is to use my optimism, empathy, and public speaking combined with my love of caring for others and competition to find ways to diminish racism and police brutality in my community. - Calin, Chicago
Meet Your Facilitator: Mr. Sawicki!
“The energy and skill with which Jabali facilitates is truly Jedi master, ninja, drop-the-mic amazing. As a facilitator, I learned so much from watching and experiencing him.”
Jabali Sawicki, nXu’s lead facilitator with over 20 years of education experience, will lead nXu’s trainings. Prior to nXu, Jabali served as the Senior Director of Inspire at Relay Graduate School of Education and the lead on-camera instructor for Zearn, an online math program used by more than 2.5 million students. Jabali also served as the founding principal and Head of School of Excellence Boys Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant, the first single-sex public charter school in New York State. Jabali currently sits on the National Board of Summer Search, a leadership development program focused on low income youth, and the Board of Uncommon Schools in New York City.