No, [I haven’t thought about what job I want] - not yet. It ain’t crossed my mind yet… I wanna own
a business. Like make my own clothing line or somethin’ like that.
Keith, a 14 year-old male, wants to be a rapper and go to college, but he also does not draw connections
between his educational expectations and his career aspirations:
My long-term goal is just like way in the future. Be a rapper, you know. I wanted to be right now,
no way I can for like a decade, that way I’ll be gettin’ money, money and money and money. Yeah.
I’ll try to graduate early, go to college early, get outta there. College, I heard you get around like one,
two classes. That’s cool with me. Get the heck out of there.
Colby is 13 years old and he wants to make cartoons and draw or play basketball. Thus, he also has mixed
aspirations and does not draw connections between education and career. He says, “[In college I want to] get
my scholarship and degree, and then after college, get a job, probably buy a house, get a car…[I want to get]
a Master’s [degree].” Then, when asked what kind of job he wants to get, he says, “A job…ain’t playing
basketball a job?”
Many of the youth who have either unclear or mixed aspirations recognize that college is important,
even if they do not know what they would study or are unable to explain exactly why they would go. Donte,
a 12 year-old male, knows that he has to get an education and go to college, but he wants to be a police
officer, dreams about being in the NBA, and does not connect these career aspirations to future education.
He says:
[I want to go] through high school, through college& [to become] a police officer& Because they
help a lot of people with they issues and stuff& I m going to go to high school, then I m going to get
out of high school, then I m going to go to college, then, I ll probably like, join the NBA.
Lamar is a 10 year-old male with mixed aspirations – he wants to be an artist, architect or doctor. Although
his career aspirations vary widely, he recognizes the importance of going to college. He says, “[My goal is]
getting a degree from college. Because if you don’t get a degree, a master’s degree, you will be going
nowhere.” His father’s background influences his view of education:
[My dad] says, if you don’t go to college, it’s going to be a hard time for you because it’s been a
hard time for me. Because it is a hard time for him, because he didn’t go to college. He had us, he
didn’t even know he was going to have us. After he had us, he had to have a job.
Many of the youths who have high career aspirations dream about playing professional sports, and
similar to Carter’s (2005) research, this was more common among males than females. Derrick is a 14 year-
11
Convention