ANIEL FLAKE, 19 A MIDSHIPMAN AT THE...

ANIEL FLAKE, 19 A MIDSHIPMAN AT THE U NAVAL Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, always dreamed of becoming an astronaut and traveling to Mars. To make his career goal a reality, Flake has a coordinated plan--his actual own mission to Mars, if you will. First came a high academy course load heavy on math and science. inferior Flake researched colleges with puissant aerospace engineering programs--the military academies, Embry-Riddle University, Texas A&M. (He chose the Naval Academy partly to be ascribed to the school's strong record of turning not at home astronauts.) Next on his agenda after graduation will be fulfillment of his five-year service commitment to the Navy, as well as a stint in flight educate After years of hard work and flight training, Flake will confidence to get noticed and hired by way of NASA.

"The big selling point of the academy was that I'm guaranteed a piece of work and I'll be following in the career footfalls of astronauts," he says.

If, like Flake, your idea of the whole school day includes studying physics, dissecting frog or programming computer then a career in technology or medicine may be for you. And developing your avow mission plan now can merely increase your chances for success

TECHNOLOGY

While the heady, go-go atmosphere of startups and stock options may be history, tech industries are here to stay.

A reflection last spring by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) reported that as many as 425000 high-tech piece of works would go unfilled in coming years. further how have the events of September 11 and the recession affected this prediction? "Demand certainly isn't where it was," admits Marjorie Bynum vice president of workforce disentanglement for the ITAA. "But what we're hearing is that companies are still looking for proper people with IT skills." The pious news is that job markets recoil and for high school scholars looking to enter the workforce in couple to four years, technology careers are a religious bet.

The BL reports that five of the top 10 fastest growing piece of works are tech-related--computer engineers, computer support specialists, schemes analysts, database administrators, and desktop publishing specialists.

"It's not at all too soon to begin talking to guidance counselors and doing an homework on different IT careers," says Bynum She also proposes boning up on English, reading, and communication skills, which are important for well-rounded employee seeking promotions. While a bachelor's grade can lead to great-paying piece of works many community colleges can prepare you for tech work at jobss too. For more information forward tech careers, visit www.gettech.org.

HEALTH & MEDICINE

through all ages since the sixth grade, Jana Mitchell knew she wanted to become a foster "I find the human corpse fascinating," she says. "Plus, I take delight in helping people." A job-shadowing shoot forward where she followed a hospital promote convinced her of her career path. Mitchell, 19 is now studying nursing at Rivier college edifice [i]or[/i] building in Nashua, New Hampshire.

The advantageous news for Mitchell is that the BL throws that by 2006 health care services will hop 30 percent and account for 31 million of the present day jobs. An aging population will ne more services--continued care, therapy, and rehabilitation. Opportunities for fosters and physicians are expected to enlarge On average advanced-practice nurses, with training beyond the sum of two units to four years of basic nursing education, earn $47700 to $82000 for year. Physicians earn about $102000 through year.

But those salaries get to at a price. Becoming a physician requires 12 years of expensive training. The average medical observer graduates with a $100,000 debit Physicians often work long, irregular hours. Still, chiefly find treating patients to be rewarding. behold "Allied Health" below for information upon other health care careers.

Traci Mosser

RELATED ARTICLE: classifications analyst.

ALEX THOMPSON

AGE: 25

LOCATION: Fort Gordon, GA

JOB: Information orders operator/analyst for the U.S. Army

EDUCATION: BA in political science from Jackson State University in Mississippi. Analysts must befamiliar with computer programs, including Unix, Windows, and Microsoft Office.

SALARY: Median annual salary is $55973

forward THE JOB: "The military wants to be upon top of the latest technology," says Thompson whose rank is "Specialist" (SPC) Army, Navy, and Air Force members who ne technology training move to Fort Gordon, which is the headquarters of the U Army Signal Center and residence to the School of Information Technology. over the day, Thompson receives work orders to de-bug (remove errors from), analyze, install, and maintain computer hardware and software. He may be protecting computer from viruses or updating hypothesiss with the latest versions of software. Thompson must constantly restrain up with new technology. He and his colleagues frequently share information about solutions to computer question s "You've got to be willing to learn from everybody" he says. His last big contrive was to upgrade a whole classroom. each so often, Thompson confronts a fresh problem and must "be creative to find a solution."