Beyond the major: How Centre College helps students find a career they are passionate about
A quick online search will lead you to hundreds of articles, posts, tips and tools to help choose the perfect career path based on job satisfaction, earnings projections and more.
Faculty and staff at Centre College are working on a different approach to choosing a career path, using strategic self-reflection to help align passion, motivation, and fulfillment.
Launched last year, Centre Spark aims to help students pair the self-discovery that comes with a liberal arts education with practical thinking about life after graduation.
“That work has taken shape through Life Crafting, an evolving framework that encourages students to connect their learning, relationships, work and aspirations to a larger sense of calling,” said Aaron Godlaski, Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience & Psychology and Director of Life Crafting.
Godlaski and Ann Goodwin, Associate Dean for Student Well-Being and Centre Spark Director of Campus Engagement, are leading a team charged with implementing Life Crafting tools and building systems to measure how well they are working.
“A key strength of this effort is its reach across campus,” Godlaski said. “Through Centre Spark workshops and the Forge Learning Community, faculty and staff are working together to turn big ideas about vocation and discernment into practical, student-centered resources.”
Some of the ways these ideas are being put into practice include:
- Advisors use conversation guides and reflection activities that help students approach major declaration through the lens of their values, interests and long-term hopes.
- Bonner Scholar mentors hold structured conversations each semester to connect service, academics and post-graduate plans.
- Staff in the library, residence life, and community engagement give student workers, interns, and student leaders prompts to reflect on their growth, purpose, and the kinds of communities and workplaces in which they thrive.
- The Life Crafting Library offers a collection of books and resources that can be used to explore questions of purpose, calling and careers.
Centre Spark is part of the College’s broader commitment to help students connect their studies with their passions and plans.
“Some of the most important questions students ask their advisors and professors aren’t just about majors and career fields, but ‘What matters to me?’ and ‘How do I want to live?’” Godlaski said. “Over the past year, with support from the NetVUE Professional Development Program, Centre has been building new ways to help students explore those questions with greater clarity, depth and purpose.”
That work has been supported by grants and seminars through the NetVUE Program, which is backed by the Council of Independent Colleges and Lilly Endowment Inc. Several faculty and staff have taken part:
Chaplain Jason Crosby ’01 was selected to participate in the 2025 Vocation Across Campus Seminar, which explored how colleges can better support students wrestling with big questions about purpose and direction.
Ellen Prusinski, Marlene & David Grissom Associate Professor of Education, received a grant to examine how community-engaged learning influences undergraduate vocational discernment.
Jess Sweitzer, Director of Residence Life & Housing, was selected to take part in the 2026 summer seminar, Vocation Across Campus: Supporting Students’ Search for Meaning.
“Rather than treating vocational reflection as a one-time exercise, Centre is weaving it into the everyday life of the College through advising, teaching, mentoring and co-curricular experiences,” Godlaski said.
