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Favorite Narratives

Purpose: This activity asks you to choose ten possible documentaries from an online list. Using an online list provides succinct descriptions of the movies. This activity can help you see the inter-relationship of your interests.

As a result of this activity the you will be able to:

  • Describe how you determine whether something is interesting.
  • Articulate why things are personally important to you.
  • Use your career interests to explore the relationships of your interests to different careers.

Process:

  1. Open a list of documentaries on an online streaming service (e.g. Hulu).
  2. Locate a specific number (10-15) that you would like to see.
  3. Write a one sentence statement about why you feel each movie would interest you.
  4. Try to group the movies you choose according to career areas you may want to explore.

Alternatives to Netflix:

  • Use a list of books. Short descriptions of plots or subjects would be needed.
  • Use your YouTube subscription list to select your most interesting channels.

Example (from a student):
This was cool. I picked out all science shows because I have always wanted to major in science because that is what smart people do. I picked out a Carl Sagan documentary and said I wanted to see it because I wanted to know what made him smart. I wanted to hear about his schooling, parents and experiences. I guess I don’t really care about the cosmos. This brought me closure to understand that I don’t want to major in the sciences. I can be smart and help people too. I am a helper, where that will take me I don’t know. I may call up Carl and ask him.