⏰ Do Now — Start Here
If you had to explain your actual plan for next year to a stranger in one sentence, what would you say?
🎯 Today's Big Question
- What's actually next for me after this year, and how would I explain it to someone else in one page?
📈 By the End of Today, You Will Be Able To
- Research their real, specific next step after graduation (a college program, a trade, an apprenticeship, the military, a job, or a gap-year plan).
- Identify at least 3 concrete facts about that path (cost, timeline, requirements, or first steps).
- Sketch a rough concept for how to present this plan visually -- not just in words.
🧰 What You'll Need
- Internet access for research
- Sketchbook or paper
📋 Your Plan for Today
Day 1: Research
- Do Now (5 min, above).
- Independent research (35 min): find at least 3 concrete facts about your specific next step (cost, timeline, requirements, first steps).
Day 2: Concept
- Mini-lesson (10 min): how a designer turns information into a visual plan (a deck, a poster, a one-pager).
- Sketch (30 min): rough out 2 concept directions for presenting your own plan.
📚 Key Words
- Post-Secondary Plan
- A specific, researched plan for what comes immediately after high school -- not just a general hope.
- Concept Sketch
- An early, rough visual plan for a design before any final production begins.
✅ What Your Finished Work Should Include
Research checked for 3 specific, accurate facts; concept sketches checked for genuinely different visual approaches, not two versions of the same idea.
Exit Ticket: Which of your two concept directions do you actually want to build, and why?
📊 Before You Leave
Quick, anonymous class check-in -- takes less than a minute.
🔗 Want to Learn More?
- No extra links for this lesson.
🚀 The Extra Mile
Cross-Class Connection: This is literally career/college research — Advisory class territory, applied for real.
Career Connection: Ties directly to every entry-requirements table across the Careers hub.
Go further -- turn this into a portfolio piece:
- Interview someone already on your chosen path for real, current information. Start here: write down three specific questions before reaching out — not "what's it like," but a question about one real decision they made.
- Compare your plan against two real career pages from the hub if it's design-adjacent. Start here: open two actual career pages from the hub side by side with your plan before writing any comparison.