- We have, as a society, we always ask little kids like, oh, what do you wanna be when you grow up?

And that's a fun question, and it's a fun time to start that exploration, but it does also make the assumption that you're gonna be one thing and you're always gonna be that one thing.

(bright music) So, I-Term is our Career Exploration Program.

It is a time for students to develop their ikigai, and ikigai is a Japanese phrase which means reason for being.

And it is a giant Venn diagram of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for.

And in the middle there, is your ikigai.

We try to expose them to as many different career pathways and possibilities as we can by bringing business partners in and going out on some field work experience.

Students can stick with the same pathway all four years, or they can switch and move around just based on what they learn.

just based on what they learn.

Careers really aren't linear and they really are cross-curricular.

And it's okay to start in a job and realize it's not your passion and shift to make yourself happy.

- I started my freshman year with biochemistry.

It's something I'm interested in.

And at the end of the year, I was like, you know, I like science, but I don't like it in a professional capacity, so I kind of crossed that off my list.

And then the next year, I looked into library science, just kind of on a whim, like hmm, this could be something I'm interested in, and it wasn't.

And then, just last year, I looked into illustration and I was like, ooh, I really like this.

I'm gonna try and make a children's book on the immune system.

- Being a forensic scientist is my total dream job and it has been since of being a kid.

Last year when I went to the DA's office, I looked into being a criminal prosecutor and I examined that with the ikigai idea, and it did fit a lot of the criteria, but not enough and not as much as like forensic pathology and stuff like that.

- Ever since I was little, like I've always been like really into video games, so like my whole ikigai was centered around like gaming careers.

And then this year, I'm looking into like narrative design and like concept art.

But when I'm looking for a job, I want something that is work, but doesn't feel like work.

(bright music)