The Discover Your Talent Podcast:
Ep: 640 with Julie Young
In case you missed it, Julie Young was recently interviewed on the Discover Your Talent.
Julie, started her career as a small classroom teacher. It was when her husband received a job transfer that she found herself in a new school. She asked for a computer, and ultimately that changed everything. This was the first step that launched Julie’s career of revolutionizing the K-12 Online Educational experience on a Global Scale. She is currently the Deputy Vice-President of Education Outreach and Student Services for Arizona State University and the CEO of ASU Prep Digital High School.
Hearing Julie talk about struggles we all face helps provide a level of perspective we wouldn’t otherwise have. It is always interesting to hear what successful people do to be successful, which is the main premise of the Discover Your Talent podcast. Although, what truly stands out here is the issue that Julie highlights:
Are people investing in what they really want to do and if not, then how can we help correct that developmental process?
Julie:
“So when I graduated in 1981 with my elementary education degree, it was a time in Lexington where there were no jobs, there was a glut of teachers and I ended up with my first job being in a very small, little Catholic school in downtown Lexington Kentucky, St Peters. And I had 9 students in my classroom, they were all African-American students and I fell in love with teaching the day I walked in the door. And I fell in love with those students. And about 6 weeks after I started that job that I loved so much, my husband got an opportunity in Florida, which was very unexpected. He went down to Jupiter, Florida to have an interview.
Then he called form what would be the office, which overlooked the Atlantic Ocean. He said “honey, if we are ever going to make a move or do something adventurous in our lives, I think we should do this.'”
Doug:
“Oh, what was he doing?”
Julie:
“He actually graduated as a civil engineer and worked as an engineer in Lexington as a Civil Engineer and he hated it. He loved the people, they were wonderful people but he hated sitting a table designing bridges, drafting work, etc.
And that story is in of itself a driver for me; I’m terms of how we at ASU Prep Digital really want to expose students to careers, relevant exposure to careers at the earliest age possible.
There were so many people that graduated at the same time as I did, that never went into the field that they graduated in because they did an internship their SENIOR year or spent two years in the field and went ‘oh my gosh, I can’t do this.'”
Doug:
“It is an epic problem”
In summary, growing up and going through school we are all asked about a million times, “what do you want to do when you grow up?” However, not everyone receives the opportunity to really go out and experience the “workforce” until much later. Throughout this episode of the Discover Your Talent podcast, Julie asks “what if?” She elaborates on details that make you wonder. For example, what if we all had the opportunity to contact our teachers at any time? What if we all had the opportunity to intern at a younger age? What if we all had the opportunity to ask real professionals, real questions BEFORE we chose what we wanted to do?
Julie explains that when she started with her previous role with Florida Virtual School, she had the opportunity to ask “what if”, and that question has truly contributed to the success of these programs, a success that can be defined as discovering your true talent and doing what you love. ASU Prep Digital is doing our part to improve on this process.
Click here to hear the full episode and more about how the success of Julie Young speaks back to the success of her work with ASU Prep Digital.
