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Building New Skills for a Brighter Future

Learning new skills can help young adults become more confident, independent, and prepared for the future. While it is definitely helpful to build strong skills in one area, exploring different interests can create even more opportunities. Every new skill can become a useful tool for school, work, hobbies, and everyday life.

"The best way to become good at something might surprise you."

"Diversifying your skills" means learning abilities from several different areas instead of focusing on only one. For example, someone who enjoys art might also learn public speaking, technology, teamwork, or budgeting. These skills may seem unrelated at first, but they can work together in creative and unexpected ways.

"The best way to become good at something might surprise you" is a six minute long animated YouTube video, that explains how trying different activities can build skills, encourage creativity, and prepare youth to handle unfamiliar situations.

You can watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/jLOuMXnM5wk?si=n6dNlbmtPFINUQ0p



Transferable Skills

Having a variety of skills can also make it easier to adapt when plans change. A job, class, or activity may require abilities that you did not expect to use. By trying new things and practicing different skills, young adults can become more flexible and feel better prepared to face challenges. 

“Bridging an Awareness Gap: Transferable Skills” from DePaul University is a great online booklet that explains how skills can develop through school, hobbies, volunteering, more. This resource is very useful because it provides a clear list of transferable skills and a worksheet for identifying them.

Read the full booklet here: https://resources.depaul.edu/career-center/faculty-staff/Documents/TransferableSkillsBooklet_05.14.18.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com



What skills are you interested in? Do you want to learn more than one skill? Let us know and share your thoughts in the comments below!

The SPAN Youth Chat

On October 7th, from 4:15 to 5:00 PM, join Jeremy Hayer and the Youth Engagement Team for a presentation related to self-advocacy. More details are to come.



Resources...

Link to SPAN's website: www.spanadvocacy.org
Link to SPAN's Youth in the Know Resource Page: Youth in the Know
We're here for you! Call SPAN if you need assistance: 1-800-654-7726.

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