MACON, Ga.– The YouScience program provides students the resources needed to think more practically about how their natural talents could best be used in the workforce.
The YouScience program was introduced into middle Georgia schools just last year and so far its reached over 1,200 students at one school alone. Jalisa Williams attends Jones county high school, she says the YouScience program has been more than helpful to her and her friends, “its really nice to have a program to allow you to figure out what career path would be best for you to go down or maybe a career that you hadn’t even thought of.”
Williams says taking the YouScience assessment gave her the assurance she needed, “preferably i wanted to be a pediatrician and that was one of the things that was best aligned for me.”
Eleventh grader Carter Tranchan says at first he didn’t quite know what career path would best fit him but since taking the test, he’s narrowed down his options, “be a business executive, get a business administration degree or maybe even entrepreneurship,” Tranchan told us.
Tranchan says he appreciates that it’s helping him make plans for life after college, “it helps you map your future out, it gives you plans for when you go to college and beyond.”
WGXA sat down with YouScience CEO Philip Hardin who says in 3 years, 100,000 Georgia students have enrolled in the program.
Hardin says providing the necessary guidance tools to direct students makes all the difference in the world, “while they may have a skills gap, Georgia does not have a talent gap. The students in the Georgia schools have the talent, the natural ability to do the work that we need them to do. We’ve just gotta uncover those abilities more effectively.”
Students say they’re thankful to have access to the program because without it, planning for their futures would be much more difficult, “if you don’t have an idea you’re not prepared.”
Watch the interview here.