Blog
Feb. 2022.
Bridget Brown
Future Search Planning
Greetings to all! I hope you have all been staying warm during
these winter months. February is can be a difficult month because it is cold
and the days are still short. We can be
hopeful because each day gets a little bit longer and we see more daylight.
Soon we will see the flowers blooming and spring will be here.
As you might remember from my last
note, I started a new inclusive college program at University of Illinois
Chicago (UIC). I am in the second month
of the program. I am very excited about
it and happy that I have this opportunity.
I am learning about radical inclusion, ableism, the history of people
with disabilities, and advocacy. I am
also taking a class called Career builder. It is very fun because we are doing
our resume and cover page. I look forward to getting a paid internship. It is
all very exciting.
Now is the time to talk about another person-centered planning tool, called The
Future Search. The future search is a way to identify your goals and plan for a
positive and possible future. The best
way to do this is to step into the future, about one year from today, and think
about what might be the best year you can imagine. It is helpful to pretend that it is June
2023, and I am telling someone that it was the best year ever for me. Everything I describe has to be POSITIVE and POSSIBLE! These are two important words because if
things are positive and possible, they actually might come true. This part is very fun because you are going
to decide a few really important things that you can do on your path and then
you can plan what you need to do to make these things happen.
For example: I am going to pretend
that it is June 2023 and I am talking to
a friend and I say, “this was the best year ever”. I will tell them 3 positive and possible
things that I want to happen in the next year.
I will say ,
“ I finished my first year of the
Co-op college program at UIC and I love it”
“ I also made friends in the co-op
program and did fun activities on campus.”
“And I have a paid internship at a
really fun and exciting place.”
Helpful hints about doing a future
search.
·
Talk about
things like they already happened. Try to image them in your head and describe
as much as possible what that might look like.
·
Step into
your future and talk about things that are positive and possible for the next
year of your life.
·
Three or less
things are a good place to start so you don’t get overwhelmed.
·
This is a
little different then the dream part.
You want to think of things that can actually happen in one year.
·
Be bold,
hopeful and realistic!
·
Don’t worry
about how you are going to do these things for now, just think about them with
a clear mind.
·
Have fun with
this process!
Have a great end of winter and I
will check in next month.
Bridget Brown 2/22/22
