Chapter 1
“If you want to find a career that you are passionate about you need to look inside yourself to determine what are your natural talents and motivated skills. I discovered that there are many career options for my talents and skills.”
Stacie Wollham

“Honestly, I thought this book and course was going to be a waste of my time and on the first day of class I was considering dropping out. Then I began to see that this information was priceless. Halfway through the semester I determined my major and career choice and was very pleased with my decision.”
Ronnie Muellar

“I learned that I can use my natural abilities to properly direct my career and life. By identifying my skills I was able to pin point my long term goals.”
Steven Freudenberg

“In my whole life, I’ve felt like I was just one of those few people who did not have any talents. I didn’t play many sports, I wasn’t great in all of my classes, but in this course it made me realize that I do have skills and talents. They were just hidden and were waiting for me to find them.”
Sarah Nitchman

“I learned my personality type. I also learned what my greatest values are and how to use them in a career to help others.”
Cody Glasscock

“This class was an exploration process that aligned my interests, skills and values with career choices. After exploring numerous options I decided on a career in nursing. I also have an interest in teaching and after working for several years as a nurse I would like to teach nursing.”
Michelle Lorge

“On the first day of class I thought it would be an easy A. I didn’t expect to learn anything or to really enjoy it at all. I see now there was a lot more than I expected. I learned so much. It is a wonderful book that requires little improvement to be a work of career perfection. I want to write novels, short stories, plays and scripts. I always knew I wanted to be a writer and this class confirmed that and gave me more direction with it.”
Chris Harrison

“Professor Gerson’s book, Achieve Career Success is extremely helpful in everything from identifying the talents I was born with, to how I want to live my life, to how I want to be remembered after I’m gone.”
Sarah Grizzard

Chapter 3

“I found Chapter 3 to be very useful and enjoyed the assessment on Multiple Intelligences. I also found the tips on time management to be beneficial.”
Amanda Houghton

“This chapter was a challenge for me, in a good way. Not only is it important to set long-term goals for your career and personal life, but it is very important to also set small goals in between. It keeps me motivated and strong.”
Stacie Wollham

“I never would have guessed in a thousand years that I would take so much knowledge from this class, not just from a career perspective, but financial, relationships and bettering myself as a person skill. I thought this class was going to be easy, boy was I wrong- it was challenging. Who am I was the question to be answered throughout this course and diving into ourselves to find out.”
Cody Glasscock

“What I liked most about this course was that it broke down aspects of your life to help you find out who you truly are and to discover your life mission. I never thought I was good at anything. After doing exercises in the book, I discovered that I do have talents and skills and they will be the key to achieving a great career.”
Ashley Miller

Chapter 4

“I learned about different career clusters and careers in my favorite clusters that I didn’t know about. I also discovered my work purpose and created a work purpose statement. I also decided where I wanted to continue my college education and I did that by taking activities in the book and implementing them into my research of different schools.”
Cody Glasscock

“I came to this class hoping that I was going to figure out what my college major would be. I desperately needed help figuring this out because I had changed majors many times. I feel that this class helped me to realize what I want to do with my life. The book has many useful tools and tips. The degree I am going for is a major in Psychology with a minor in Forensics. It blew my mind that I could do that.”
Tiffany Lavender

“This class has been extremely helpful in my search to find my long lost career. This process has helped me to grow stronger as a person and help me to find who I really am inside. After all these years of listening to what everyone else expected of me, I feel like I now know who I am and what I am capable of.”
Sarah Nitchman

Chapter 5

“I learned how to search for, apply for and find jobs.”
Chris Harrison

“With a background in Human Resources I used to be quite comfortable with resumes, cover letters and job search strategies. I have been out of the workforce for so long that it was great to refresh and find out about new trends.”
Stacie Wollam

“The knowledge in this chapter and book has not only helped me, but also my mother. She was telling me that she is thinking about making a career change and needs to work on her resume. I got excited and told her that I have a whole chapter in this book that is dedicated to making an awesome resume and offered to help her do it.”
Ashley Miller

“I already had a general idea o how to fill out a job application and to write a resume, but this chapter helped me fine tune the detail. I learned how to appropriately write key words and certain things that it will determine whether or not an employer looks at your resume.”
Amanda Houghton

Chapter 6

“One of the major activities that helped me in this class was learning how to interview and be interviewed. This has always been a huge struggle for me. I learned how to overcome my anxiety and shyness about job interviews.”
Sarah Nitchman

“Both practicing job interviewing and doing informational interviews outside of class was awesome. I enjoyed finding out what people do and how much they make and what all is involved in their job. I think it gave me a lot of perspective on what kind of job I want to look for when I graduate. These interviews definitely helped me in making my decision for my major and degree.”
Tiffany Lavender

“The suggestions or answering common job interview questions was very helpful. I will definitely refer back to this chapter when I have my next job interview and will be better prepared than in the past.”
Amanda Houghton

“This chapter is very important. In fact, it is so important that you could spend weeks just on this topic of interviewing for a job. Interviewing can be intimidating, but first impressions are everything. So getting it right is necessary. Practice, practice, practice is what I always say and this chapter gives you a heads and leg up.”
Stacie Wollam

Chapter 7
“One thing I liked was the charts with the roots, prefixes and suffixes. It made words I previously did not know make sense. I also liked the variety of ways information on vocabulary was presented such as flash cards, matching, use in sentence, multiple choice, use of dictionary, fill-in the blanks and use of pictures or symbols.”
Austin Pesek
“I think students will benefit big time from this chapter. The words and examples are very clear and specific. I enjoyed doing the activities. I liked the many different ways to learn new words and plan to continue practicing these strategies to increase my vocabulary.”
Lilia Reyes
“I really enjoyed this chapter. I was amazed at how much breaking a word into parts helped me to learn the meaning. I liked the information on suffixes and prefixes because it went along way in helping me to break these new words down so that I could understand and remember the definitions.”
Samantha Rice
“I thought vocabulary was not important, but after reading this chapter I changed my mind. I see how a person’s vocabulary can reflect on his or her character, vision and future success. I am working now to continue improving both my vocabulary and reading comprehension.”
Seongyun Bak
“Some of the vocabulary words I knew and there were a lot that I didn’t know. I especially liked how we had to use the words in sentences. Putting the words in sentences really helped me.”
Terry Bishop

Chapter 8

“The stories in this chapter were awesome. My personal favorite was The Rope Climber story. It made me realize anything is possible and to never give up on myself and my dreams.”
Kristen Rodriquez

“I enjoyed the stories and the opportunity to self-reflect within myself. Learning to think critically is helping me in college and also in dealing with my life’s struggles and challenges.”
Debra Tuberville

“I liked the motivational stories in this chapter. The questions pertaining to the stories were good because they helped me to analyze the stories in depth. The questions helped me to understand and appreciate my own successes in life.”
Bianca Martinez

“I liked how this chapter explained all of the different levels of critical thinking and how to use them.”
Alma Guzman

“The story of the bamboo tree had a profound effect on me. It has changed my thinking and I am more patient and less discouraged when results do not come as fast as I want.”
Albert Collins

“The stories from the author’s own life were enlightening and inspirational. I also came to terms with my own critical thinking issues and how to resolve some of them.”
Keena Robinson

Chapter 9

“I like the different tips and advice for improving relationships.”
Lori Braley
“I really appreciated the way in which suggestions for building and maintaining relationships were simply put and well organized. A lot of times when I read books related to this topic, I get confused and overwhelmed with too much information. This chapter is a good  and quick reference and reminder about the dos and don’ts of relationships.”
Danyale Bryant
“I like the focus on social intelligence and the ideas for maintaining good relationships.”
Brandon Ellis
“This chapter made me look at relationships differently. I like that it gave many tips on how to become a better listener, how to improve relationships and information on developing self-esteem and a positive self-image.”
Kristen Rodriguez
“I loved the following story about Benjamin Franklin.”
Brandon Ellis
“I liked that it touched on some of the points that I consider to be weaknesses in my communication skills. The chapter showed me ways to improve my communication skills.”
Daniel Zamarripa
Chapter 10
“I learned a productive way to spend and save money. I really needed this chapter and information. This chapter highlighted essentials of financial management and gave me a lot to think about. I learned how to avoid past mistakes and many different strategies to try out.”
Debra Tuberville

“I learned a lot about different financial aid like loans and grants that I did not know about. This section was very informative.”
Debra Tuberville

“I really enjoyed reading this chapter. I liked the dos and don’ts of money management and the tips on how to manage credit cards and debt. I like the examples of real people. The real life stories were great and I learned a lot of tips to start managing my finances better.”
Crystal Carreon

“I loved this chapter! The real life examples are accurate and are a great representation of current times. The examples helped me to see how easy it is to get into debt. I like that the author gives a solution to the potential problems and educates us about government financial aid and loans. This chapter is very resourceful, well thought out and provides great insight.”
Keena Robinson

Chapter 11

“This chapter is very important in the current job market. We live in a tough world right now and having a leg up can make the difference between getting that job or just being another resume sitting on someone’s desk. The hidden job market is like a locked box and everyone in our class got the key.”
Stacie Wollham

“The first question I asked on the first day of class was how can we find jobs in this bad economy? I learned how to find unadvertised jobs in the hidden job market. I know how to research and identify companies that interest me.”
Charmaine Evans

“I now know how to open the door to a world of jobs which I did know how to do before taking this course. I have a good understanding of who I am and a firm understanding of what I need to do to be successful in life and how to get the job I want. I plan to take everything I learned in this course and apply it to everyday life.”
Cody Glasscock

“Before reading this book I had no idea what a hidden job market was or that it existed. Now I have the information to use all kinds of resources to find a job or even to create one of my own.”
Ashley Miller

Chapter 12

“I liked the interactive activities in this course. I’ve seen several people in this class grow. Some are more open and others seem more intuitive and aware. I see things about myself and others that I never knew existed. I enjoyed getting to hear other’s perspective about me that I was unable to see before.”
Chris Harrison

“All in all, this course has helped me both inside and out. I feel like I know myself better as a person which includes accepting both my good and bad qualities. I know what I’m good at and plan to utilize those skills by helping others in every way possible. The satisfaction I have from declaring a major and feeling like school has more purpose is liberating.”
Amanda Houghton

“I came into this class with absolutely no idea of what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I feel like I now know who I am and what I’m capable of.”
Sarah Nitchman

“I feel like I have grown so much from this class. When I first started this class I came in unknowing, confused and anxious. However, later in the semester I became more focused, resolved, more confident and less anxious.”
Michelle Lorge

“This course literally changed my life. It is the only time in my entire life that I have taken the time to stop and consider what I had achieved so far and what I want to achieve in the remainder of my life. As time goes by, I will think about my classmates and wonder what they are doing. I hope each of them will pursue their dream.”
Sarah Grizzard

“By the end of the course we took the Post Course Assessment and my score had more than doubled. It is such a confidence booster to be able to see tangible results and know I am one step closer to reaching my goals. I feel truly blessed to have taken this course. My path was hidden by a thick fog and I needed help to see the next step ahead of me. It feels rewarding to have sure footing on that next step and to take it with confidence.”
Stacie Wollham