You’re heading for the faculty lot when you see them.

At the far end of the student lot, the rear doors of a beat old white van are half open. The two students stand just inside them doing something. Standing in the rain in black raincoats, both of them. James half a foot shorter than Robert. James always has a nervous scared puppy smile. Robert never smiles, as if he’s staring far off, like seeing something nobody else can ever really see. They look at you that way now.

At the old rusty van they see you slowing your car. Robert pulls the van doors inward, to hide whatever they are doing.

You knew the taller student, James, throughout his tortured years in your school, a spindly shy boy, constantly bullied by the jocks. But the new student, Robert, his new best friend, refused counseling, and never came into your office. James has never seemed happier though, since he met Robert. Something happened one day behind the boy’s gym, you aren’t sure what. Nobody would talk, but Robert was messed up and a couple of the jocks had broken noses. And nobody ever bothered James after that, for the first time in his wretched young life.

Now, through your rain-beaded windshield, you see the shotgun.

Just the black buttstock, in James’ hands, and Robert glares at James and grabs it back, hides the shotgun under his own coat.

Your eyes blink, you feel that robot feeling. The feeling that something is happening too soon, to somebody else. Your foot is on the brake. You pull your car in beside the van.

But even as you start getting out, Robert is at your door, looking down at you. His rain-dripping eyes glitter. He’s smiling. Then James is there, with his puppy look, watching Robert, trying to please Robert.

Now you see, James is holding a pistol in each bony little hand. Rain runs down his raincoat sleeves, dripping off the muzzles. The boy makes no effort to hide them. He wants you to see the pistols, you realize. You think how James has never had control of anything before. Not even his own face. You remember all the sessions you had with him bawling, in your office after being taunted, bullied, abused, taking him out to a ball game that time. But that’s all gone now. Somehow, terribly, you know, today is his day.

But it’s not James you speak to. Robert’s presence in your open car door is almost demonic with some kind of hidden power.

Robert is looking right through you. Your windshield wipers keep slapping.

You hear yourself say, like a voice from another world: “Robert, are you all right?”

“Don’t go inside the school,” Robert says to you. James watches Robert and says nothing.

It’s like being hit with a fist, the way Robert’s eyes focus on your eyes. His lips slide open, tight, and then his yellow teeth show. It’s the first time you’ve ever seen him smile, and he looks completely different. Something long and bulky is under his black rain coat.

Robert pumps the slide of the shotgun, bringing it out in the open from inside his coat. It’s like a movie in slow mouton, a bad dream.

And Robert says, “You’re not a bad person. You don’t need to be in there, not this morning, okay?”

You are a Mental Health Counselor. Many lives hinge upon whatever you say and do next.

You weigh the world in its balances. You know you have credit with James. But Robert is the leader. An unknown. Your mind races through his files. Transfer. Four schools in three years. Possible abuse at home. Assault misdemeanors at every school. Brilliant in art and math, when he wants to be, indifferent straight F’s in everything else.

You open your car door wider. Just a bit, hoping… Robert lifts the black death-hole of the shotgun to your face, still smiling. His face looks so old, for a boy. What has he seen? His smile scares you more even than the shotgun, you realize, so oddly.

And he says, “Don’t you get out of that damn car. Did you hear me? I’m giving you your one chance.”

Everything you learned getting your master’s degree, everything you’ve learned from the hundreds of students you’ve known, it’s all on the line now. The lives of teachers and students in the school. Your life. The lives of these two boys. Maybe the lives of police officers, the security guard, and God knows who else…

And now, knowing you have to try, you move. OmyGod, help me help them.

With what you hope will work already forming in your mind, you face his lifted shotgun, and you step out of your car into the rain…

“Please,” Robert says, “you don’t need to be part of this.”

You hold his eye contact, you must. It’s who you are. It’s what you are. No one else is here.

And your compassion, your training, your professionalism, wells up inside you… you feel compassion, now, not fear.

You are a valuable person, and I care…

Counselors assist people with personal, family, educational, mental health, and career problems. Their duties vary greatly depending on their occupational specialty, which is determined by the setting in which they work and the population they serve.

A master’s degree generally is required to become a licensed counselor.

Job opportunities for counselors should be very good because job openings are expected to exceed the number of graduates from counseling programs. The health care and social assistance industry employs about 47 percent of counselors, and state and local government employ about 11 percent.

Educational, vocational, and school counselors provide individuals and groups with career and educational counseling. School counselors assist students of all levels, from elementary school to postsecondary education. They advocate for students and work with other individuals and organizations to promote the academic, career, personal, and social development of children and youth. School counselors help students evaluate their abilities, interests, talents, and personalities to develop realistic academic and career goals.

Counselors use interviews, counseling sessions, interest and aptitude assessment tests, and other methods to evaluate and advise students. They also operate career information centers and career education programs. Often, counselors work with students who have academic and social development problems or other special needs.

Elementary school counselors observe children during classroom and play activities and confer with their teachers and parents to evaluate the children’s strengths, problems, or special needs. In conjunction with teachers and administrators, they make sure that the curriculum addresses both the academic and the developmental needs of students. Elementary school counselors do less vocational and academic counseling than high school counselors.

High school counselors advise students regarding college majors, admission requirements, entrance exams, financial aid, trade or technical schools, and apprenticeship programs. They help students develop job search skills, such as resume writing and interviewing techniques. College career planning and placement counselors assist alumni or students with career development and job-hunting techniques.

School counselors at all levels help students to understand and deal with social, behavioral, and personal problems. These counselors emphasize preventive and developmental counseling to provide students with the life skills needed to deal with problems before they worsen and to enhance students’ personal, social, and academic growth. Counselors provide special services, including alcohol and drug prevention programs and conflict resolution classes. They also try to identify cases of domestic abuse and other family problems that can affect a student’s development.

Counselors interact with students individually, in small groups, or as an entire class. They consult and collaborate with parents, teachers, school administrators, school psychologists, medical professionals, and social workers to develop and implement strategies to help students succeed.

Vocational counselors, also called employment or career counselors, provide mainly career counseling outside the school setting. Their chief focus is helping individuals with career decisions. Vocational counselors explore and evaluate the client’s education, training, work history, interests, skills, and personality traits. They may arrange for aptitude and achievement tests to help the client make career decisions. They also work with individuals to develop their job-search skills and assist clients in locating and applying for jobs. In addition, career counselors provide support to people experiencing job loss, job stress, or other career transition issues.

Rehabilitation counselors help people deal with the personal, social, and vocational effects of disabilities. They counsel people with disabilities resulting from birth defects, illness or disease, accidents, or other causes. They evaluate the strengths and limitations of individuals, provide personal and vocational counseling, and arrange for medical care, vocational training, and job placement. Rehabilitation counselors interview both individuals with disabilities and their families, evaluate school and medical reports, and confer with physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, and employers to determine the capabilities and skills of the individual. They develop rehabilitation programs by conferring with clients; these programs often include training to help clients develop job skills. Rehabilitation counselors also work toward increasing the client’s capacity to live independently.

Mental health counselors work with individuals, families, and groups to address and treat mental and emotional disorders and to promote mental health. They are trained in a variety of therapeutic techniques used to address issues, including depression, addiction and substance abuse, suicidal impulses, stress, problems with self-esteem, and grief. They also help with job and career concerns, educational decisions, issues related to mental and emotional health, and family, parenting, marital, or other relationship problems.

Mental health counselors often work closely with other mental health specialists, such as psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurses, and school counselors.

Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors help people who have problems with alcohol, drugs, gambling, and eating disorders. They counsel individuals who are addicted to drugs, helping them to identify behaviors and problems related to their addiction. Counseling can be done on an individual basis, but is frequently done in a group setting. These counselors will often also work with family members who are affected by the addictions of their loved ones. Counselors also conduct programs aimed at preventing addictions.

Marriage and family therapists apply family systems theory, principals and techniques to individuals, families, and couples to resolve emotional conflicts. In doing so, they modify people’s perceptions and behaviors, enhance communication and understanding among family members, and help to prevent family and individual crises. Marriage and family therapists also may engage in psychotherapy of a non-medical nature, make appropriate referrals to psychiatric resources, perform research, and teach courses about human development and interpersonal relationships.

Other counseling specialties include gerontological, multicultural, and genetic counseling. A gerontological counselor provides services to elderly people and their families as they face changing lifestyles. Genetic counselors provide information and support to families who have members with birth defects or genetic disorders and to families who may be at risk for a variety of inherited conditions. These counselors identify families at risk, interpret information about the disorder, analyze inheritance patterns and risks of recurrence, and review available options with the family.

Work environment can vary greatly depending on occupational specialty. School counselors work predominantly in schools, where they usually have an office but also may work in classrooms. Other counselors may work in a private practice, community health organization, or hospital. Many counselors work in an office where they see clients throughout the day. Because privacy is essential for confidential and frank discussions with clients, counselors usually have private offices.

The work schedules of counselors depend on occupational specialty and work setting. Some school counselors work the traditional 9- to 10-month school year with a 2- to 3-month vacation, but increasing numbers, are employed on 11-month or full-year contracts, particularly those working in middle and high schools. They usually work the same hours as teachers, but they may travel more frequently to attend conferences and conventions. College career planning and placement counselors work long and irregular hours during student recruiting periods.

Rehabilitation counselors usually work a standard 40-hour week. Self-employed counselors and those working in mental health and community agencies, such as substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors, frequently work evenings to counsel clients who work during the day. Both mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists also often work flexible hours to accommodate families in crisis or working couples who must have evening or weekend appointments.

Education requirements vary based on occupational specialty and State licensure and certification requirements. A master’s degree is usually required to be licensed as a counselor. Some States require counselors in public employment to have a master’s degree; others accept a bachelor’s degree with appropriate counseling courses. Counselor education programs in colleges and universities are often found in departments of education or psychology.

Fields of study include college student affairs, elementary or secondary school counseling, education, gerontological counseling, marriage and family therapy, substance abuse counseling, rehabilitation counseling, agency or community counseling, clinical mental health counseling, career counseling, and related fields. Courses are often grouped into eight core areas: human growth and development, social and cultural diversity, relationships, group work, career development, assessment, research and program evaluation, and professional identity. In an accredited master’s degree program, 48 to 60 semester hours of graduate study, including a period of supervised clinical experience in counseling, are required.

Some employers provide training for newly hired counselors. Others may offer time off or tuition assistance to complete a graduate degree. Often counselors must participate in graduate studies, workshops, and personal studies to maintain their certificates and licenses.

Licensure requirements differ greatly by State, occupational specialty, and work setting. Many States require school counselors to hold a State school counseling certification and to have completed at least some graduate course work; most require the completion of a master’s degree. Some States require school counselors to be licensed, which generally requires continuing education credits. Some States require public school counselors to have both counseling and teaching certificates and to have had some teaching experience.

For counselors based outside of schools, 49 States and the District of Columbia have some form of counselor licensure that governs the practice of counseling. Requirements typically include the completion of a master’s degree in counseling, the accumulation of 2 years or 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience beyond the master’s degree level, the passage of a State-recognized exam, adherence to ethical codes and standards, and the completion of annual continuing education requirements. However, counselors working in certain settings or in a particular specialty may face different licensure requirements. For example, a career counselor working in private practice may need a license, but a counselor working for a college career center may not. In addition, substance abuse and behavior disorder counselors are generally governed by a different State agency or board than other counselors. The criteria for their licensure vary greatly and in some cases, these counselors may only need a high school diploma and certification. Those interested in entering the field must research State and specialty requirements to determine what qualifications they must have.

People interested in counseling should have a strong desire to help others and should be able to inspire respect, trust, and confidence. They should be able to work independently or as part of a team. Counselors must follow the code of ethics associated with their respective certifications and licenses.

Counselors must possess high physical and emotional energy to handle the array of problems that they address. Dealing daily with these problems can cause stress.

Certification and advancement. Some counselors elect to be certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc., which grants a general practice credential of National Certified Counselor.

To be certified, a counselor must hold a master’s degree with a concentration in counseling from a regionally accredited college or university; have at least 2 years of supervised field experience in a counseling setting (graduates from counselor education programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs are exempted); provide two professional endorsements, one of which must be from a recent supervisor; and must have a passing score on the board’s examination. This national certification is voluntary and is distinct from State licensing. However, in some States, those who pass the national exam are exempted from taking a State certification exam. The board also offers specialty certifications in school, clinical mental health, and addiction counseling. These specialty certifications require passage of a supplemental exam. To maintain their certifications, counselors retake and pass the exam or complete 100 credit hours of acceptable continuing education every 5 years.

The Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification offers voluntary national certification for rehabilitation counselors. Many State and local governments and other employers require rehabilitation counselors to have this certification. To become certified, rehabilitation counselors usually must graduate from an accredited educational program, complete an internship, and pass a written examination. Certification requirements vary, however, according to an applicant’s educational history. Employment experience, for example, is required for those with a counseling degree in a specialty other than rehabilitation. To maintain their certification, counselors must successfully retake the certification exam or complete 100 credit hours of acceptable continuing education every 5 years.

Prospects for advancement vary by counseling field. School counselors can become directors or supervisors of counseling, guidance, or pupil personnel services; or, usually with further graduate education, become counselor educators, counseling psychologists, or school administrators. Some counselors choose to work for a State’s department of education.

Some marriage and family therapists, especially those with doctorates in family therapy, become supervisors, teachers, researchers, or advanced clinicians in the discipline. Counselors may also become supervisors or administrators in their agencies. Some counselors move into research, consulting, or college teaching or go into private or group practice. Some may choose to pursue a doctoral degree to improve their chances for advancement.

Educational, vocational, and school counselors work primarily in elementary and secondary schools and colleges and universities. Other types of counselors work in a wide variety of public and private establishments, including healthcare facilities; job training, career development, and vocational rehabilitation centers; social agencies; correctional institutions; and residential care facilities, such as halfway houses for criminal offenders and group homes for children, the elderly, and the disabled. Some substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors work in therapeutic communities where people with addictions live while undergoing treatment. Counselors also work in organizations engaged in community improvement and social change, drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, and State and local government agencies.

A growing number of counselors are self-employed and work in group practices or private practice, due in part to new laws allowing counselors to be paid for their services by insurance companies and to the growing recognition that counselors are well-trained, effective professionals.

Employment for counselors is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through 2016. However, job growth will vary by location and occupational specialty. Job prospects should be good due to growth and the need to replace people leaving the field.

Employment of substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors is expected to grow 34 percent, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. As society becomes more knowledgeable about addiction, it is increasingly common for people to seek treatment. Furthermore, drug offenders are increasingly being sent to treatment programs rather than jail.

Employment for educational, vocational and school counselors is expected to grow 13 percent, which is about as fast as the average for all occupations. Demand for vocational or career counselors should grow as multiple job and career changes become common and as workers become increasingly aware of counseling services. In addition, State and local governments will employ growing numbers of counselors to assist beneficiaries of welfare programs who exhaust their eligibility and must find jobs. Other opportunities for employment of counselors will arise in private job-training centers that provide training and other services to laid-off workers and others seeking to acquire new skills or careers.

Demand for school counselors may increase due in large part to increases in student enrollments at postsecondary schools and colleges and as more States require elementary schools to employ counselors. Expansion of the responsibilities of school counselors should also lead to increases in their employment. For example, counselors are becoming more involved in crisis and preventive counseling, helping students deal with issues ranging from drug and alcohol abuse to death and suicide. Although schools and governments realize the value of counselors in helping their students to achieve academic success, budget constraints at every school level will dampen job growth of school counselors. Federal grants and subsidies may help to offset tight budgets and allow the reduction in student-to-counselor ratios to continue.

Employment of mental health counselors is expected to grow by 30 percent, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. Mental health counselors will be needed to staff statewide networks that are being established to improve services for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances and for their families. Under managed care systems, insurance companies are increasingly providing for reimbursement of counselors as a less costly alternative to psychiatrists and psychologists.

Jobs for rehabilitation counselors are expected to grow by 23 percent, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. The number of people who will need rehabilitation counseling is expected to grow as advances in medical technology allow more people to survive injury or illness and live independently again. In addition, legislation requiring equal employment rights for people with disabilities will spur demand for counselors, who not only help these people make a transition to the workforce but also help companies to comply with the law.

Marriage and family therapists will experience growth of 30 percent, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. This is due in part to an increased recognition of the field. It is more common for people to seek help for their marital and family problems than it was in the past.

Job prospects vary greatly based on the occupational specialty. Prospects for rehabilitation counselors are excellent because many people are leaving the field or retiring. Furthermore, opportunities are very good in substance abuse and behavioral disorder counseling because relatively low wages and long hours make recruiting new entrants difficult. For school counselors, job prospects should be good because many people are leaving the occupation to retire; however, opportunities may be more favorable in rural and urban areas, rather than the suburbs, because it is often difficult to recruit people to these areas.

Median annual earnings of wage and salary educational, vocational, and school counselors in May 2006 were $47,530. The middle 50 percent earned between $36,120 and $60,990. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $27,240, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $75,920. School counselors can earn additional income working summers in the school system or in other jobs.

Median annual earnings of wage and salary substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors in May 2006 were $34,040. The middle 50 percent earned between $27,330 and $42,650. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $22,600, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $52,340.

Median annual earnings of wage and salary mental health counselors in May 2006 were $34,380. The middle 50 percent earned between $26,780 and $45,610. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $21,890, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $59,700.

Median annual earnings of wage and salary rehabilitation counselors in May 2006 were $29,200. The middle 50 percent earned between $22,980 and $39,000. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $19,260, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $53,170.

For substance abuse, mental health, and rehabilitation counselors, government employers generally pay the highest wages, followed by hospitals and social service agencies. Residential care facilities often pay the lowest wages.

Median annual earnings of wage and salary marriage and family therapists in May 2006 were $43,210. The middle 50 percent earned between $32,950 and $54,150. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $25,280, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $69,050. Median annual earnings were $36,020 in individual and family social services, the industry employing the largest number of marriage and family therapists.

Self-employed counselors who have well-established practices, as well as counselors employed in group practices, usually have the highest earnings.

For a stunning number of people in our dehumanized industrial society, mental health counseling is their only lifeline to survival, both mentally and emotionally.

As our society struggles and our population expands, the need for mental health counseling is enormous, and growing rapidly.

If you feel strongly that you are the kind of person who would spend a life as a lifeline of sanity, to hundreds of desperate people, find the degree program near you, or online, that suits you best.

There are so many damaged lives, and no time to waste.

For general information about counseling, as well as information on specialties such as college, mental health, rehabilitation, multicultural, career, marriage and family, and gerontological counseling, contact:

• American Counseling Association, 5999 Stevenson Ave., Alexandria, VA 22304. http://www.counseling.org

For information on school counselors, contact:

• American School Counselors Association, 1101 King St., Suite 625, Alexandria, VA 22314. http://www.schoolcounselor.org

For information on mental health counselors, contact:

• American Mental Health Counselors Association, 801 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 304, Alexandria, VA 22314. http://www.amhca.org

For information on marriage and family therapists, contact:

• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, 112 South Alfred Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 http://www.aamft.org

For information on accredited counseling and related training programs, contact:

• Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, American Counseling Association, 5999 Stevenson Ave., 4th floor, Alexandria, VA 22304. http://www.cacrep.org

For information on national certification requirements for counselors, contact:

• National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc, 3 Terrace Way, Suite D, Greensboro, NC 27403. http://www.nbcc.org

You know why. You teach standard mainstream fourth grade.

And your favorite student comes in without the homework again. “Actually,” he says, “I forgot. Really, I should be punished.” Prempting you.

You realize that his shirt is on inside-out. The other kids are mocking him. He’s hurt for a second, then his look changes to pride.

“Go ahead, laugh,” he says, and sears them with (an increasingly familiar) look of condescending pity. “The high probability of an asteroid strike would end all life on earth as we know it. Since we live in a world that might end instantly at any given moment, I wore my shirt this way on purpose. It’s a Dada thing. You know, Ubu Roi.”

You love this kid. And you fear for his future. You know he doesn’t belong here. But where?

His jokes are understood by you, but none of the kids in your class. He loves to tease you with plays on words and satire. He makes everyone laugh with his brilliant insights.

Sometimes, he can be incredibly sensitive to feelings of others, but other times he’s bossy and condescending to other kids. When the tough kids pick on him, he plays the class clown role, but you know he hates it. His defense mechanisms are elaborate.

What he doesn’t know he finds out as fast as he can. Google is his authority.

He would be the dream student, IF he were your only student!

In part one of EXCEPTIONALS, we explored a degree in teaching exceptional disabled students. We discussed the world of those students, and the kind of training and degree necessary to equip a future teacher for that world.

Today, I want to flip the mirror and view learning through its other side, the development of the gifted student— another unique type of person, with very exceptional learning needs and abilities.

School psychologists work with students in early childhood and elementary and secondary schools. They collaborate with teachers, parents, and school personnel to create safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments for all students. School psychologists address students’ learning and behavioral problems, suggest improvements to classroom management strategies or parenting techniques, and evaluate students with disabilities and gifted and talented students to help determine the best way to educate them.

When the gifted student is evaluated, a suitable and appropriate teaching program should be developed for that student’s special needs.

Then the exceptional teaching begins. A host of positive and negative incidents will challenge both the student and the teacher. This is why a solid basis of knowledge, specific to teaching exceptional students, is essential for the teacher.

The challenges are many for both the teacher and the student. There are many classic examples…

The Gifted Student asks many questions and is very curious. Typically, he/she already possesses a surprising amount of information, often with amazing memory skills. However, the same student easily gets “off task” and “off topic”, impatient when not called on in class.

The Gifted Student can grasp ideas very quickly, getting it the first time. He/she retains information easily, masters reading skills earlier, quick in math, and completes assignments with startling quickness. This student may expect constant recognition. He/she is very easily bored, often disruptive when feeling ignored, and hates repetitive activities and memorization. Speed in thought means sloppy, hasty execution of class work, then more and deeper impatience.

The Gifted Student can become the worst of adults or the best of adults. The way he/she is taught— or NOT taught— means everything. Good or bad. Just as the gifted student can become bored and upset when ignored, the gifted adult can turn inward and dangerous when undeveloped and unrecognized.

In the first part of this two-parter, we covered the pathways of higher education for you, the teacher, of exceptional students.

This youth can become a great thinker, a great leader, a great innovator, as an adult.

With this person, original thoughts and indecent opinions are self-motivated. With higher level thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, he/she makes connections other students don’t see. Highly individual approaches to problem-solving bring amazing results.

Our world desperately needs minds of this quality, but minds that have been nurtured with skill, love, and insight.

So, this rare human potential is in your hands. Never let it be wasted. Or even much worse, distorted and twisted!

It’s up to YOU to go back to college— and gain the additional knowledge required to bring this gift into the world, and this little human being in to a fruitful life.

YOU are the doorway, the exceptional teacher of the Gifted Student!”

For information on professions related to early intervention and education for gifted children, listings of schools with special education training programs, information on teacher certification, and general information on related personnel issues, contact:

• The National Association of Gifted Children http://www.nagc.org/
• The Council for Exceptional Children, 1110 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22201. http://www.cec.sped.org
• National Center for Special Education Personnel & Related Service Providers, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, 1800 Diagonal Rd., Suite 320, Alexandria, VA 22314. http://www.personnelcenter.org

To learn more about the special education teacher certification and licensing requirements in individual States, contact the State’s department of education.

You don’t feel like a hero. It’s what you do. Going into Hell is part of the job.

You’ve been fighting fires for a couple of years now, but nothing like this.

This fire was the kind the older firemen sometimes talk about, the low-keyed fire-scarred veterans, sitting around the station. You always wondered at the reluctant quiet way they remember that kind of fire, with awe. And still, until now, you thought they exaggerating.

So not. Way worse. Incredible. Terrifying. Then your training took over. Suddenly you were in your zone.

Your engine was first on the scene. The house already gushing fire.

Into that furnace you and your comrades went, the way you were trained— suited up, respirators on, helmets down, fighting your way through the black boiling hell of fire and smoke. The water crew’s big hose was jetting a waterfall over the roof, into the windows.

You forced your way in, swinging an axe. Inside that fire, it was hell on earth. It always surprised you a little, how fire is black, not red. Hell is a fierce darkness. Far worse than anyone could describe. Plowing through it, like struggling at the bottom of a black hot sea. As if you’d entered the belly of a raging beast.

Screams reached you faintly through the roar. Their tiny shrieks. Two little kids and a baby, trapped in the back bedroom, screaming for help.

And it was those screams that saved their lives. Those screams, and your training, and, some say, your courage. But it was training more than courage, you know that.

You found the door but wedged it open carefully, knowing they might be inside, knowing a flame front might leap in. Steam from the big hose fogged your shield.

Little arms grabbed your legs. In one arm you lifted a little girl holding a baby. Your other arm swept up a little boy curled at your feet. The ceiling looked like it might go.

You hauled the kids out of there, shielding them; in the smoke were the lights of your buddies, and then you were kicking your way through, into the yard outside.

You remember the EMT’s treating the kids, and how they didn’t want to let go of you. And you remember pulling off your helmet and respirators as your buddies knocked down that house fire.

And yet… more than anything, (more even than the bright stars in the night sky and the fresh air outside the blazing house), you remember the love of the father and mother as they sobbed and held those kids. You remember how those sooty-faced kids kept looking over at you, in big-eyed wonder, in pure love.

Three lives (not counting your own). Saved in critical seconds. Saved by instinct, by your training and courage.

And now, when you see the gold lettering on your fire engine, you read that motto with a deeper passion: “To Serve and Protect.”

You are a Fire Fighter.

Every year, fires and other emergencies take thousands of lives, and destroy property worth billions of dollars. Fire fighters help protect the public against these dangers by responding to fires and a variety of other emergencies. In addition to putting out fires, they are frequently the first emergency personnel at the scene of a traffic accident or medical emergency and may be called upon to treat injuries or perform other vital functions.

During duty hours, fire fighters must have powerful self-control. They must constantly be prepared to respond immediately to a fire or other emergency. Fighting fires is dangerous and complex, requiring excellent organization and teamwork.

At every emergency scene, fire fighters perform specific duties assigned by a superior officer. At fires, they connect hose lines to hydrants and operate a pump to send water to high-pressure hoses. Some carry hoses, climb ladders, and enter burning buildings—using systematic and careful procedures—to put out fires. At times, they may need to use tools, like an ax, to make their way through doors, walls, and debris, sometimes with the aid of information about a building’s floor plan.

Some find and rescue occupants who are unable to safely leave the building without assistance. They also provide emergency medical attention, ventilate smoke-filled areas, and attempt to salvage the contents of buildings. Fire fighters’ duties may change several times while the company is in action.

Sometimes they remain at the site of a disaster for days at a time, rescuing trapped survivors, and assisting with medical treatment.

Fire fighters work in a variety of settings, including metropolitan areas, rural areas with grasslands and forests, airports, chemical plants and other industrial sites. They have also assumed a range of responsibilities, including emergency medical services. In fact, most calls to which fire fighters respond involve medical emergencies. In addition, some fire fighters work in hazardous materials units that are specially trained for the control, prevention, and cleanup of hazardous materials, such as oil spills or accidents involving the transport of chemicals.

Workers specializing in forest fires utilize different methods and equipment than other fire fighters. In national forests and parks, forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists spot fires from watchtowers and report the fires to headquarters by telephone or radio.

Forest rangers also patrol to ensure that travelers and campers comply with fire regulations. When fires break out, crews of fire fighters are brought in to suppress the blaze with heavy equipment and water hoses.

Fighting forest fires, like fighting urban fires, is rigorous work. One of the most effective means of fighting a forest fire is creating fire lines—cutting down trees and digging out grass and all other combustible vegetation in the path of the fire—to deprive it of fuel.

Elite fire fighters called smoke jumpers parachute from airplanes to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. This can be extremely hazardous.

When they aren’t responding to fires and other emergencies, fire fighters clean and maintain equipment, study fire science and fire fighting techniques, conduct practice drills and fire inspections, and participate in physical fitness activities. They also prepare written reports on fire incidents and review fire science literature to stay informed about technological developments and changing administrative practices and policies.

Most fire departments have a fire prevention division, usually headed by a fire marshal and staffed by fire inspectors. Workers in this division conduct inspections of structures to prevent fires by ensuring compliance with fire codes. These inspectors also work with developers and planners to check and approve plans for new buildings and inspect buildings under construction.

Some fire fighters become fire investigators, who determine the causes of fires. They collect evidence, interview witnesses, and prepare reports on fires in cases where the cause may be arson or criminal negligence. They often are asked to testify in court. In some cities, these investigators work in police departments, and some are employed by insurance companies.

Fire fighters spend much of their time at fire stations, which are usually similar to dormitories.

When an alarm sounds, fire fighters respond, regardless of the weather or hour. Fire fighting involves the risk of death or injury from floors caving in, walls toppling, traffic accidents, and exposure to flames and smoke. Fire fighters also may come into contact with poisonous, flammable, or explosive gases and chemicals and radioactive materials, which may have immediate or long-term effects on their health. For these reasons, they must wear protective gear that can be very heavy and hot.

Work hours of fire fighters are longer and more varied than the hours of most other workers. Many fire fighters work more than 50 hours a week, and sometimes they may work longer. In some agencies, fire fighters are on duty for 24 hours, then off for 48 hours, and receive an extra day off at intervals. In others, they work a day shift of 10 hours for 3 or 4 days, a night shift of 14 hours for 3 or 4 nights, have 3 or 4 days off, and then repeat the cycle. In addition, fire fighters often work extra hours at fires and other emergencies and are regularly assigned to work on holidays.

Fire lieutenants and fire captains often work the same hours as the fire fighters they supervise.

Most municipal jobs require passing written and physical tests. All fire fighters receive extensive training after being hired.

The completion of community college courses, or an associate degree, in Fire Science improves an applicant’s chances for a job.

A number of colleges and universities offer courses leading to 2- or 4-year degrees in Fire Engineering or Fire Science. In recent years, an increasing proportion of new fire fighters have had some education after high school. Candidates with some education after high school are increasingly preferred.

As a rule, entry-level workers in large fire departments are trained for several weeks at the department’s training center or academy. Through classroom instruction and practical training, the recruits study fire fighting techniques, fire prevention, hazardous materials control, local building codes, and emergency medical procedures, including first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). They also learn how to use axes, chain saws, fire extinguishers, ladders, and other fire fighting and rescue equipment. After successfully completing this training, the recruits are assigned to a fire company, where they undergo a period of probation.

Many fire departments have accredited apprenticeship programs lasting up to 4 years. These programs combine formal instruction with on-the-job training under the supervision of experienced fire fighters.

Almost all departments require fire fighters to be certified as emergency medical technicians. Although most fire departments require the lowest level of certification, Emergency Medical Technician-Basic (EMT-Basic), larger departments in major metropolitan areas increasingly require paramedic certification. Some departments include this training in the fire academy, whereas others prefer that recruits earn EMT certification on their own but will give them up to 1 year to do it.

In addition to participating in training programs conducted by local fire departments, some fire fighters attend training sessions sponsored by the U.S. National Fire Academy. These training sessions cover topics such as executive development, anti-arson techniques, disaster preparedness, hazardous materials control, and public fire safety and education. Some States also have either voluntary or mandatory fire fighter training and certification programs. Many fire departments offer fire fighters incentives such as tuition reimbursement or higher pay for completing advanced training.

Applicants for municipal fire fighting jobs usually must pass a written exam; tests of strength, physical stamina, coordination, and agility; and a medical examination that includes a drug screening. Workers may be monitored on a random basis for drug use after accepting employment. Examinations are generally open to people who are at least 18 years of age and have a high school education or its equivalent.

Those who receive the highest scores in all phases of testing have the best chances of being hired. Higher education can provide the intellectual and informational edge that makes all the difference.

Among the personal qualities fire fighters need are mental alertness, self-discipline, courage, mechanical aptitude, endurance, strength, and a sense of public service. Initiative and good judgment also are extremely important because fire fighters make quick decisions in emergencies. Members of a crew live and work closely together under conditions of stress and danger for extended periods, so they must be dependable and able to get along well with others. Leadership qualities are necessary for officers, who must establish and maintain discipline and efficiency, as well as direct the activities of the fire fighters in their companies.

Most experienced fire fighters continue studying to improve their job performance and prepare for promotion examinations. To progress to higher level positions, they acquire expertise in advanced fire fighting equipment and techniques, building construction, emergency medical technology, writing, public speaking, management and budgeting procedures, and public relations.

Opportunities for promotion depend upon the results of written examinations, as well as job performance, interviews, and seniority. Hands-on tests that simulate real-world job situations are also used by some fire departments.

Usually, fire fighters are first promoted to engineer, then lieutenant, captain, battalion chief, assistant chief, deputy chief, and, finally, chief.

For promotion to positions higher than battalion chief, many fire departments now require a bachelor’s degree, preferably in fire science, public administration, or a related field.

An associate degree is required for executive fire officer certification from the National Fire Academy.

In 2006, total paid employment in firefighting occupations was about 361,000. Fire fighters held about 293,000 jobs, first-line supervisors/managers of fire fighting and prevention workers held about 52,000, and fire inspectors and investigators held about 14,000 jobs. These employment figures include only paid career fire fighters—they do not cover volunteer fire fighters, who perform the same duties and may constitute the majority of fire fighters in a residential area. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, about 71 percent of fire companies were staffed entirely by volunteer fire fighters in 2005.

About 9 out of 10 fire fighting workers were employed by local government. Some large cities have thousands of career fire fighters, while many small towns have only a few. Most of the remainder worked in fire departments on Federal and State installations, including airports. Private fire fighting companies employ a small number of fire fighters.

In response to the expanding role of fire fighters, some municipalities have combined fire prevention, public fire education, safety, and emergency medical services into a single organization commonly referred to as a public safety organization. Some local and regional fire departments are being consolidated into countywide establishments to reduce administrative staffs, cut costs, and establish consistent training standards and work procedures.

Although employment is expected to grow as fast as the average for all jobs, candidates for these positions are expected to face keen competition as these positions are highly attractive and sought after. Again, a degree can only help in such a competitive job market.

Employment of workers in fire fighting occupations is expected to grow by 12 percent over the 2006-2016 decade, which is as fast as the average for all occupations. Most job growth will stem from volunteer fire fighting positions being converted to paid positions.

Prospective fire fighters are expected to face keen competition for available job openings. Many people are attracted to fire fighting because, it is challenging and provides the opportunity to perform an essential public service; a high school education is usually sufficient for entry; and a pension is usually guaranteed after 25 years work. Consequently, the number of qualified applicants in most areas far exceeds the number of job openings.

The written examination and physical requirements eliminate many applicants. Those who have completed some fire fighter education at a community college, and have EMT or paramedic certification will have an additional advantage. A degree can make all the difference, as we’ve said, if all else is equal.

The pay is steady and upscale. Higher positions involving degrees and tenure can pay very handsomely.

Median annual earnings of fire fighters were $41,190 in May 2006.
The middle 50 percent earned between $29,550 and $54,120.
The lowest 10 percent earned less than $20,660, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $66,140.
Median annual earnings were $41,600 in local government, $41,070 in the Federal Government, and $37,000 in State governments.

Median annual earnings of first-line supervisors/managers of fire fighting and prevention workers were $62,900 in May 2006.
The middle 50 percent earned between $50,180 and $79,060.
The lowest 10 percent earned less than $36,820, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $97,820.

First-line supervisors/managers of fire fighting and prevention workers employed in local government earned a median of about $64,070 a year.

Median annual earnings of fire inspectors and investigators were $48,050 in May 2006.
The middle 50 percent earned between $36,960 and $61,160 a year.
The lowest 10 percent earned less than $29,840, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $74,930.
Fire inspectors and investigators employed in local government earned a median of about $49,690 a year.

According to the International City-County Management Association, average salaries in 2006 for sworn full-time positions were as follows:

Fire fighters who average more than a certain number of work hours per week are required to be paid overtime. The hours threshold is determined by the department. Fire fighters often earn overtime for working extra shifts to maintain minimum staffing levels or during special emergencies.

Fire fighters receive benefits that usually include medical and liability insurance, vacation and sick leave, and some paid holidays. Almost all fire departments provide protective clothing (helmets, boots, and coats) and breathing apparatus, and many also provide dress uniforms.

Fire fighters generally are covered by pension plans, often providing retirement at half pay after 25 years of service or if the individual is disabled in the line of duty.

Like fire fighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics and police and detectives respond to emergencies and save lives.

So now you know— fire fighting involves hazardous conditions and long, irregular hours.

But you still want it. It’s calling you home. It’s what you want to be.

Even as a kid, when a big engine went wailing down the street, with steely-eyed men in fire-suits hanging on, you felt a thrill that has still never gone away.

And you know that applicants for fire fighting jobs must pass written, physical, and medical examinations. You’ll be ready.

Most of all, you know this now— that although employment is expected to grow faster than the average, huge competition for jobs is expected.

Why? because fire-fighting attracts so many sincere and qualified candidates.

And because you now know all this, you are going to get into amazing physical condition, while you get that Fire Science degree.

Because you want all the knowledge and training possible to have your back, when you fight your way inside the burning belly of a beast— into a fire, a hell on earth!

Information about a career as a fire fighter may be obtained from local fire departments and from either of the following organizations:

• International Association of Fire Fighters, 1750 New York Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20006. http://www.iaff.org
• U.S. Fire Administration, 16825 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727. http://www.usfa.dhs.gov

Information about professional qualifications and a list of colleges and universities offering 2- or 4-year degree programs in fire science or fire prevention may be obtained from:

• National Fire Academy, 16825 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727. http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/nfa/index.htm

You were always drawn to that side, the disabled kids. There are so many more of them than the gifted. Their needs seem so desperate, their gratitude so overwhelming.

You’d always wanted to teach. You’d grown up working at a summer camp for kids with disabilities.

Maybe you yourself were a gifted kid, and hardly realized it. But you always had so much to share. You seemed to have a very special intuitive insight into others.

Somehow, disabled kids, (with their unusual ways of expressing themselves), didn’t sadden or scare you the way they did some of the other counselors— who often quit after a couple of hours, or the first trying day.

Camp for disabled kids was like going to another world. You loved their delight in small things. After summer vacation, you missed being with those kids, actually.

There was a way you learned to reach them, that made you feel so special yourself. They saw that way you had and loved you for it.

But for all that, you wanted to do more. You always knew there was so much more you should be able to do for them. To bring that light to their eyes. And their hugs aplenty.

Then you were asked to counsel at a camp for what they called the “emotionally disturbed.” You went online and googled the major diagnoses and symptoms. You prepared yourself with effective techniques for working with those kids. It was tougher, but you learned.

And now, you’re fully educated. You work in a public school for Students with Emotional Disturbance or Emotional Disabilities (ED). Their emotions are exaggerated or inappropriate for a situation. They can’t explain or control their actions or impulses. But you understand. Your education prepared you.

But still, it’s so hard. You are the last hope of these kids.

Before this, out of college, you taught in a Title One school. You still bear the fingernail and bite scars on both arms. But those are trivial, compared to the suffering of your students. Autistic, violent temper tantrums, screamers, thrashers.

Your heart aches for them, but so does your head, trying so many ways, over and over, to reach them, soothe and comfort and teach them.

Your family wonders how you can stand it. They have no idea how much inner satisfaction it brings you.

Teaching special education is the difficult teaching positions in the public school system. An incredible level of motivation and courage is needed, to not give up when the going gets tough.

Special education teachers work with children and youths who have a variety of disabilities. It requires a solid background degree in child development and education.

A small number of special education teachers work with students with severe cases of mental retardation or autism, primarily teaching them life skills and basic literacy.

However, the majority of special education teachers work with children with mild to moderate disabilities, using or modifying the general education curriculum to meet the child’s individual needs. Most special education teachers instruct students at the elementary, middle, and secondary school level, although some work with infants and toddlers.

The various types of disabilities that may qualify individuals for special education programs include specific learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, multiple disabilities, hearing impairments, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, autism, combined deafness and blindness, traumatic brain injury, and other health impairments. Students are classified under one of the categories, and special education teachers are prepared to work with specific groups.

Early identification of a child with special needs is an important part of a special education teacher’s job, because early intervention is essential in educating children with disabilities.

Special education teachers use various techniques to promote learning. Depending on the disability, teaching methods can include individualized instruction, problem-solving assignments, and small-group work. When students need special accommodations to take a test, special education teachers see that appropriate ones are provided, such as having the questions read orally or lengthening the time allowed to take the test.

Special education teachers help to develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each student. The IEP sets personalized goals for the student and is tailored to that student’s individual needs and ability. When appropriate, the program includes a transition plan outlining specific steps to prepare students with disabilities for middle school or high school or, in the case of older students, a job or postsecondary study. Teachers review the IEP with the student’s parents, school administrators, and the student’s general education teachers. Teachers work closely with parents to inform them of their child’s progress and suggest techniques to promote learning at home.

Special education teachers design and teach appropriate curricula, assign work geared toward each student’s needs and abilities, and grade papers and homework assignments. They are involved in the students’ behavioral, social, and academic development, helping them develop emotionally, feel comfortable in social situations, and be aware of socially acceptable behavior. Preparing special education students for daily life after graduation also is an important aspect of the job. Teachers provide students with career counseling or help them learn routine skills, such as balancing a checkbook.

As schools become more inclusive, special education teachers and general education teachers increasingly work together in general education classrooms.

Special education teachers help general educators adapt curriculum materials and teaching techniques to meet the needs of students with disabilities. They coordinate the work of teachers, teacher assistants, and related personnel, such as therapists and social workers, to meet the individualized needs of the student within inclusive special education programs. A large part of a special education teacher’s job involves communicating and coordinating with others involved in the child’s well being, including parents, social workers, school psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, school administrators, and other teachers.

Special education teachers work in a variety of settings. Some have their own classrooms and teach only special education students; others work as special education resource teachers and offer individualized help to students in general education classrooms; still others teach together with general education teachers in classes including both general and special education students.

Some teachers work with special education students for several hours a day in a resource room, separate from their general education classroom. Considerably fewer special education teachers work in residential facilities or tutor students in homebound or hospital environments.

Some special education teachers work with infants and usually travel to the child’s home to work with the parents. Many of these infants have medical problems that slow or preclude normal development. Special education teachers show parents techniques and activities designed to stimulate the infant and encourage the growth and development of the child’s skills. Toddlers usually receive their services at a preschool where special education teachers help them develop social, self-help, motor, language, and cognitive skills, often through the use of play.

Technology is becoming increasingly important in special education. Teachers use specialized equipment such as computers with synthesized speech, interactive educational software programs, and audiotapes to assist children.

Special education teachers enjoy the challenge of working with students with disabilities and the opportunity to establish meaningful relationships with them. Although helping these students can be highly rewarding, the work also can be emotionally and physically draining.

Some schools offer year-round education for special education students, but most special education teachers work only the traditional 10-month school year.

All States require special education teachers to be licensed, which typically requires at least a bachelor’s degree and completion of an approved training program in special education teaching.

Many States require a master’s degree. Most States have alternative methods for entry— for bachelor’s degree holders who do not have training in education.

Many colleges and universities across the United States offer programs in special education at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degree levels. Special education teachers usually undergo longer periods of training than do general education teachers.

Most bachelor’s degree programs last years and include general and specialized courses in special education. However, an increasing number of institutions require a 5th year or other graduate-level preparation.

Among the courses offered are educational psychology, legal issues of special education, child growth and development, and strategies for teaching students with disabilities. Some programs require specialization, while others offer generalized special education degrees or a course of study in several specialized areas. The last year of the program usually is spent student teaching in a classroom supervised by a certified teacher.

All 50 States and the District of Columbia require special education teachers to be licensed. The State board of education or a licensure advisory committee usually grants licenses, and licensure varies by State. In some States, special education teachers receive a general education credential to teach kindergarten through grade 12. These teachers then train in a specialty, such as learning disabilities or behavioral disorders. Many States offer general special education licenses across a variety of disability categories, while others license several different specialties within special education.

For traditional licensing, all States require a bachelor’s degree and the completion of an approved teacher preparation program with a prescribed number of subject and education credits and supervised practice teaching. However, many States also require a master’s degree in special education, involving at least 1 year of additional course work, including a specialization, beyond the bachelor’s degree.

Special education teachers can advance to become supervisors or administrators. They may also earn advanced degrees and become instructors in colleges that prepare others to teach special education. In some school systems, highly experienced teachers can become mentors to less experienced ones, providing guidance to those teachers while maintaining a light teaching load.

The number of special education teachers is expected to increase by 15 percent from 2006 to 2016, faster than the average for all occupations.

The number of students requiring special education services has grown steadily in recent years due to improvements that have allowed learning disabilities to be diagnosed at earlier ages and medical advances that have resulted in more children surviving serious accidents or illnesses, but with impairments that require special accommodations. In addition, legislation emphasizing training and employment for individuals with disabilities and educational reforms requiring higher standards for graduation has increased demand for special education services.

The percentage of foreign-born special education students also is expected to grow, as teachers become more adept in recognizing disabilities in that population. Finally, more parents are expected to seek special services for their children who have difficulty meeting the new, higher standards required of students.

In addition to job openings resulting from growth, a large number of openings will result from the need to replace special education teachers who switch to teaching general education, change careers altogether, or retire. At the same time, many school districts report difficulty finding sufficient numbers of qualified teachers. As a result, special education teachers should have excellent job prospects.

The job outlook does vary by geographic area and specialty. Although most areas of the country report difficulty finding qualified applicants, positions in inner cities and rural areas usually are more plentiful than job openings in suburban or wealthy urban areas. Student populations also are expected to increase more rapidly in certain parts of the country, such as the South and West, resulting in increased demand for special education teachers in those regions.

Job opportunities may be better in certain specialties—such as teachers who work with children with multiple disabilities or severe disabilities like autism—because of large increases in the enrollment of special education students classified under those categories. Legislation encouraging early intervention and special education for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers has created a need for early childhood special education teachers.

Bilingual special education teachers and those with multicultural experience also are needed to work with an increasingly diverse student population.

Median annual earnings in May 2006 of wage-and-salary special education teachers who worked primarily in preschools, kindergartens, and elementary schools were $46,360. The middle 50 percent earned between $37,500 and $59,320. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $31,320, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $73,620.
Median annual earnings of wage-and-salary middle school special education teachers were $47,650. The middle 50 percent earned between $38,460 and $61,530. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $32,420, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $80,170.

Median annual earnings of wage-and-salary special education teachers who worked primarily in secondary schools were $48,330. The middle 50 percent earned between $38,910 and $62,640. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $32,760, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $78,020.

In 2006, about 58 percent of special education teachers belonged to unions—mainly the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association—that bargain with school systems over wages, hours, and the terms and conditions of employment.

In most schools, teachers receive extra pay for coaching sports and working with students in extracurricular activities. Some teachers earn extra income during the summer, working in the school system or in other jobs.

Other occupations involved with the identification, evaluation, and development of students with disabilities include psychologists, social workers, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, counselors, teacher assistants, occupational therapists, recreational therapists, and teachers—preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle, and secondary.

All States require teachers to be licensed; traditional licensing requires the completion of a special education teacher training program and at least a bachelor’s degree.

Many States require a master’s degree. Also, a number of States offer alternative licensure programs to attract college graduates, who do not have training in education.

As a special ed teacher, you job prospects are excellent— enrollments of special education students (and shortages of qualified teachers) keep rising.

Your degree can be the gateway to a profession in increasingly high demand, and a deeply satisfying profession, and a very challenging one.

Special education can be exhausting, intense, delightful, depressing, wonderful… but never boring.

The pain your kids suffer, the delight of discovery in their eyes, their hugs, all make each of your teaching days a world unto itself— beyond merely special— unique!

NOTE: Tomorrow, in our second part of Exceptionals, we will explore the world of Gifted Children, the other side of teaching “Exceptional Students“.

For information on professions related to early intervention and education for children with disabilities, listings of schools with special education training programs, information on teacher certification, and general information on related personnel issues, contact:

• The Council for Exceptional Children, 1110 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22201. http://www.cec.sped.org
• National Center for Special Education Personnel & Related Service Providers, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, 1800 Diagonal Rd., Suite 320, Alexandria, VA 22314. http://www.personnelcenter.org

To learn more about the special education teacher certification and licensing requirements in individual States, contact the State’s department of education.

Six years ago on a snow-blown college football field, halfway into that dream, you used your stunning speed in a tight end pattern, cutting hard, and WHAM! You took a blindside hit that felt like you’d stepped in front of a bus.

White light filled your world, and when you tried to stand up, your right leg folded under you. Like jello. At first you lay there and felt nothing… but you looked up and saw the shock on your teammates faces.

The knee was shattered. An injury that would forever change your life. The dream gone. No more the star running back, not for you. Never again. Three surgeries, before you could even walk again. Then all the therapy. And your hunger for football.

You thought your life was over. You cried when you were alone. The old dream was gone. Gradually you realized, that dream had been a boy’s dream.

And now you needed the dream of a man. So you grew up.

Three years later you attended the USA Football – Pittsburgh Steelers Coaching School.

Now you are a coach. A high school coach, and it’s a life more rich and deep than you’d ever dreamed of. The lives of 46 players and 5 assistant coaches are in your hands. You are paid by the county school system as a teacher.

And you do teach— two things: football and life.

Football is a medium you use to try and teach the kids about overcoming adversity, never giving up and always holding onto hope. You are a father figure to some of the boys from single parent homes. And some with both parents, with even worse problems.

You work hard for their wins, but you work harder to be someone that they can look up to. And you work hard to be fair.

Now you can hardly separate your football coaching from your life coaching. And you have gained personal inner strength from this, maybe more than any of your players ever has. The injury that you once raged about now seems like the biggest opportunity you ever had.

You are a coach.

Mentor, godfather, strategist, psychologist, brother, counselor, life coach, football coach. You share advice, offer guidance, help make plans. You hold people accountable for taking action. More than all of this, you work hardest to be the man you never realized you could be.

Many people hire a health coach to help you with health and fitness goals, like a personal trainer. Other people hire a business coach to help them build or grow a business plan. Some hire a productivity coach to help them get organized and increase productivity.

You are all of those, and more. Maybe some day you’ll work as a life coach. Coaching football has certainly prepared you for an anything.

The odds have been long and the road a rocky one full of surprises.

Some of those who participate in amateur sports dream of becoming paid professional athletes, coaches, or sports officials, but very few beat the long and daunting odds of making a full-time living from professional athletics. Those athletes who make it to the professional level find that careers are short and jobs are insecure. Even though the chances of employment as a professional athlete are slim, there are many opportunities for at least a part-time job as a coach, instructor, referee, or umpire in amateur athletics or in high school, college, or university sports.

Coaches of individuals— sports instructors— may teach professional and nonprofessional athletes individually. They organize, instruct, train, and lead athletes in indoor and outdoor sports such as bowling, tennis, golf, and swimming. Because activities are as diverse as weight lifting, gymnastics, scuba diving, and karate, instructors tend to specialize in one or a few activities.

Coaches and sports instructors sometimes differ in their approaches to athletes because of the focus of their work. For example, while coaches manage the team during a game to optimize its chance for victory, sports instructors—such as those who work for professional tennis players—often are not permitted to instruct their athletes during competition. Sports instructors spend more of their time with athletes working one-on-one, which permits them to design customized training programs for each individual. Motivating athletes to play hard challenges most coaches and sports instructors but is vital for the athlete’s success.

Education and training requirements for coaches vary greatly by the level and type of sport. Regardless of the sport or occupation, these jobs require immense overall knowledge of the game, usually acquired through years of experience at lower levels.

Becoming a professional coach is the culmination of years of effort.

Head coaches at public secondary schools (and sports instructors at all levels) usually must have a bachelor’s degree. For high school coaching and sports instructor jobs, schools usually prefer to hire teachers willing to take on the jobs part time. If no suitable teacher is found, schools hire someone from outside.

Those who are not teachers must meet State requirements for certification to become a head coach. Certification, however, may not be required for coaching and sports instructor jobs in private schools.

Degree programs—- specifically related to coaching— include exercise and sports science, physiology, kinesiology, nutrition and fitness, physical education, and sports medicine.

Many coaches begin their careers as assistant coaches to gain the knowledge and experience needed to become a head coach.

Head coaches at large schools that strive to compete at the highest levels of a sport require substantial experience as a head coach at another school or as an assistant coach. To reach the ranks of professional coaching, a person usually needs years of coaching experience and a winning record in the lower ranks.

Athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers held about 253,000 jobs in 2006.
Coaches and scouts held 217,000 jobs;
athletes, 18,000;
and umpires, referees, and other sports officials, 19,000.

Among those employed in wage and salary jobs, 47 percent held jobs in public and private educational services. About 13 percent worked in amusement, gambling, and recreation industries, including golf and tennis clubs, gymnasiums, health clubs, judo and karate schools, riding stables, swim clubs, and other sports and recreation facilities. Another six percent worked in the spectator sports industry.

About 1 out of 5 workers in this occupation was self-employed, earning prize money or fees for lessons, scouting, or officiating assignments. Many other coaches and sports officials, although technically not self-employed, have such irregular or tenuous working arrangements that their working conditions resemble those of self-employment.

Employment of athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2016.

Very tough competition is expected for jobs at the highest levels of sports. Employment of athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers is expected to increase by 15 percent from 2006 to 2016, which is faster than the average for all occupations.

Employment of coaches and instructors will increase with expansion of school and college athletic programs, and growing demand for private sports instruction. Persons who are State-certified to teach academic subjects in addition to physical education are likely to have the best prospects for obtaining coaching and instructor jobs.

The need to replace the many high school coaches who change occupations or leave the labor force entirely also will provide some coaching opportunities. Opportunities should be best for persons seeking part-time umpire, referee, and other sports official jobs at the high school level.

Competition is expected for higher paying coaching positions at the college level— and will be even greater for jobs in professional sports.

Median annual wage and salary earnings of athletes were $41,060 in May 2006. However, the highest paid professional coaches earn much more.

Earnings vary by level of education, certification, and geographic region. Some instructors and coaches are paid a salary, while others may be paid by the hour, per session, or based on the number of participants.

If athletics has been important in your life, and you want to dedicate your extensive knowledge of physiology and sports, to instruct and inform and encourage sports participants, coaching may be your destiny.

Get that degree in exercise science, sports science, physiology, kinesiology, nutrition, fitness, physical education, or sports medicine.

A great coach will grow beyond what he/she is, into what they can be, and their players will grow with them, like an extended family.

Learn everything you can, and give it all you have to give…

Because that’s what coaches do!

For more information about exercise science, sports science, physiology, kinesiology, nutrition, fitness, physical education, or sports medicine, contact your local university, or search GRAD2B for the many Online Universities offering such degree programs.

For information about sports officiating for team and individual sports, contact:

• National Association of Sports Officials, 2017 Lathrop Ave., Racine, WI 53405. http://www.naso.org

For more information about certification of tennis instructors and coaches, contact:

• Professional Tennis Registry, P.O. Box 4739, Hilton Head Island, SC 29938. http://www.ptrtennis.org
• U.S. Professional Tennis Association, 3535 Briarpark Dr., Suite One, Houston, TX 77042. http://www.uspta.org

It’s the middle of the night. A big rain is blowing through the city. The giant glass tower is empty except for security guards. And you and the world-famous entrepreneur. He’s wearing golf clothes, you’re dressed in an old plastic raincoat like a homeless guy with a garbage bag.

His face isn’t smiling the way it was on the Time cover. He’s furious, worried, grim. “I don’t trust my own security people. Their sweeps showed nothing. Maybe they did the plant, if there is one… if we can crush this takeover crap, we’re meeting in Dubai, and before that, I’ve gotta know.”

You make him leave the room. Even his body’s faint electromagnetic field is too strong for the incredibly sensitive scanning codes in your laptop-based remote. You’ve adjusted for your own field and that took a full day of programming.

Walking out, he grinds his teeth, says, “Find the bug and I’m giving you a hundred-thousand-buck tip.”

You pull off the Goodwill raincoat. Your high-tech work overalls have tool and gear pockets, most of them full.

You clear your head and remove your gear bag from the garbage bag. You set up and boot up and calibrate the scanner remote… and you systematically begin your sweep.

You smile and remember the first bug you ever found, inside a curtain rod in a home kitchen, a cheap circuit board about the size of a quarter and powered by a 9-volt battery. An amateur’s bug for sure, but a bug no less. It’s on your key ring for good luck.

This is your life, bug sweeps, disguises, surveillance missions, clients sobbing in desperation. Expertise in polygraph testing, internal theft, domestic abuse cases.

You scan the luxurious surfaces of the Billionaire’s conference room walls, ceiling, tables, chairs, lamps, carpeting. You muse while you scan.

You met him when the company hired you to sweep his fleet of cars. You found six bugs, astonishing him. Then he asked you out to his mansion on the lake, and you found a dozen more. He liked you, bonused you, retained you.

Most of all, with your track record working for him, he trusts you. In fact, nobody else in his company even knows about you. He pays you by wire transfer. You wonder why he trusts you. His bonuses, maybe. Or the fact that he knows this— all you have, besides your knowledge, is your reputation for your loyalty to the client.

An hour goes by. The scans reveal nothing. With your remote so high it feeds back, still nothing. You trust the exotic gear, some of it you designed yourself.

Now you stop, put the gear down. You tell yourself… look around… empty your mind.

Across the gulf of space outside the building, another huge glass building glitters in the night. It’s walls face these walls. The rain is gone, and the tall office buildings steam from their vents. In the back of your mind, something is emerging…

Wham! A revelation hits you.

You grab your laptop and key in a new program. You rest your range-finding laser scanner on the desktop, pointed at that building, in a triaxial angled grid.

Suddenly, your laptop data screen jumps to life.

And you grin. You triangulate the signals, focusing them to a pinpoint.

On the sixth floor over there. Ninth office from the left. A vibration code scanner signal that reads choice pattern vibes from the conference room glass.

The next day your online banking shows a big wire deposit. And an e-mail request: “Traveling to Dubai next month. Need services to and from and there.”

You’re a PI.

A Private Investigator. A detective at the top of your game.

You’re on the high end, but you didn’t start there. You first earned a degree in criminology, and began at the bottom of the ladder… with divorce and child custody disputes.

Your world is nothing like you see on TV. You don’t chase cars, enter illegally, or chase people waving a gun. You are careful not to trespass, even. You’ve got a State detective’s license to protect, and an “agency operator’s license,” which permits you to be your own boss.

And a bad economy means ever more work for you.

You assist individuals, businesses, and attorneys by finding and analyzing information. You connect small clues to solve mysteries or to uncover facts about legal, financial, or personal matters. You offer many services, including executive, corporate, and celebrity protection; pre-employment verification; and individual background profiles.

Sometimes you investigate computer crimes, such as identity theft, harassing e-mails, and illegal downloading of copyrighted material. You also provide assistance in criminal and civil liability cases, insurance claims and fraud, child custody and protection cases, missing persons cases, and premarital screening.

Private detectives and investigators have many methods to choose from when determining the facts in a case. Much of their work is done using a computer, recovering deleted e-mails and documents, for example. They may also perform computer database searches or work with someone who does.

Computers allow investigators to quickly obtain huge amounts of information such as a subject’s prior arrests, convictions, and civil legal judgments; telephone numbers; motor vehicle registrations; association and club memberships; and even photographs.

Sometimes investigators go undercover, pretending to be someone else to get information or to observe a subject inconspicuously. Most detectives and investigators are trained to perform physical surveillance, which may be high-tech or low-tech. They may observe a site, such as the home of a subject, from an inconspicuous location or a vehicle. Using photographic and video cameras, binoculars, and cell phones, detectives often use surveillance to gather information on an individual; this can be quite time consuming.

Detectives and investigators must be mindful of the law when conducting investigations. They keep up with Federal, State, and local legislation, such as privacy laws and other legal issues affecting their work.

The legality of certain methods may be unclear, and investigators and detectives must have knowledge and training of law that a degree can greatly facilitate.

Private detectives and investigators often specialize. Those who focus on intellectual property theft, for example, investigate and document acts of piracy, help clients stop illegal activity, and provide intelligence for prosecution and civil action. Other investigators specialize in developing financial profiles and asset searches. Their reports reflect information gathered through interviews, investigation and surveillance, and research, including review of public documents.

Computer forensic investigators specialize in recovering, analyzing, and presenting data from computers for use in investigations or as evidence. They determine the details of intrusions into computer systems, recover data from encrypted or erased files, and recover e-mails and deleted passwords.

Legal investigators assist in preparing criminal defenses, locating witnesses, serving legal documents, interviewing police and prospective witnesses, and gathering and reviewing evidence. Legal investigators also may collect information on the parties to the litigation, take photographs, testify in court, and assemble evidence and reports for trials. They often work for law firms or lawyers.

Corporate investigators conduct internal and external investigations for corporations. In internal investigations, they may investigate drug use in the workplace, ensure that expense accounts are not abused, or determine whether employees are stealing merchandise or information. External investigations attempt to thwart criminal schemes from outside the corporation, such as fraudulent billing by a supplier.

Financial investigators may be hired to develop confidential financial profiles of individuals or companies that are prospective parties to large financial transactions. These investigators often are certified public accountants (CPAs) who work closely with investment bankers and other accountants. They might also search for assets in order to recover damages awarded by a court in fraud or theft cases.

Investigators generally work alone, but they sometimes work with others during surveillance or when following a subject in order to avoid detection by the subject. Some of the work involves confrontation, so the job can be stressful and dangerous. Some situations call for the investigator to be armed, such as certain bodyguard assignments for corporate or celebrity clients. In most cases, however, a weapon is not necessary because the purpose of the work is gathering information and not law enforcement or criminal apprehension. Owners of investigative agencies have the added stress of having to deal with demanding and sometimes distraught clients.

Private detectives and investigators often work irregular hours because of the need to conduct surveillance and contact people who are not available during normal working hours. Early morning, evening, weekend, and holiday work is common.

Most private detectives and investigators have some college education and previous experience in investigative work. In most States, they are required to be licensed.

There are no formal education requirements for most private detective and investigator jobs, although many of the top PI’s have college degrees.

Courses in criminal justice and police science are helpful to aspiring private detectives and investigators.

Although related experience is usually required, some people enter the occupation directly after graduation from college, generally with an associate or bachelor’s degree in criminal justice or police science.

The 2006 educational attainment for private detectives and investigators, in percent, was as follows:

Most corporate investigators must have a bachelor’s degree, preferably in a business-related field. Some corporate investigators have a master’s degree in business administration or a law degree; others are CPAs.

For computer forensics work, a computer science or accounting degree is more helpful than a criminal justice degree. An accounting degree provides good background knowledge for investigating fraud through computer forensics.

Either of these two degrees provides a good starting point after which investigative techniques can be learned on the job.

Alternatively, many colleges and universities now offer certificate programs, requiring from 15 to 21 credits, in computer forensics. These programs are most beneficial to law enforcement officers, paralegals, or others who are already involved in investigative work. A few colleges and universities now offer bachelor’s or master’s degrees in computer forensics, and others are planning to begin offering such degrees.

Most of the work of private detectives and investigators is learned on the job. New investigators will usually start by learning how to use databases to gather information. The training they receive depends on the type of firm. At an insurance company, a new investigator will learn to recognize insurance fraud. At a firm that specializes in domestic cases, a new worker might observe a senior investigator performing surveillance. Learning by doing, in which new investigators are put on cases and gain skills as they go, is a common approach. Corporate investigators hired by large companies, however, may receive formal training in business practices, management structure, and various finance-related topics.

Because they work with changing technologies, computer forensic investigators never stop training. They learn the latest methods of fraud detection and new software programs and operating systems by attending conferences and courses offered by software vendors and professional associations.

The majority of States and the District of Columbia require private detectives and investigators to be licensed. Licensing requirements vary, however. Seven States—Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, and South Dakota—have no Statewide licensing requirements, some States have few requirements, and many others have stringent regulations.

A degree can push your chances radically forward. For example, the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs requires private investigators to be 18 years of age or older; have a combination of education in police science, criminal law, or justice and experience equaling 3 years (6,000 hours); pass a criminal history background check by the California Department of Justice and the FBI (in most States, convicted felons cannot be issued a license); and receive a qualifying score on a 2-hour written examination covering laws and regulations.

Detectives and investigators in all States who carry handguns must meet additional requirements for a firearms permit.

There are no licenses specifically for computer forensic investigators, but some States require them to be licensed private investigators. Even where licensure is not required, a private investigator license is useful to some because it allows them to perform follow-up or complementary tasks.

Private detectives and investigators typically have previous experience in other occupations. Some have worked in other occupations for insurance or collections companies, in the private security industry, or as paralegals.

Many investigators enter the field after serving in law enforcement, the military, government auditing and investigative positions, or Federal intelligence jobs. Former law enforcement officers, military investigators, and government agents, who are frequently able to retire after 25 years of service, often become private detectives or investigators in a second career.

Others enter from jobs in finance, accounting, commercial credit, investigative reporting, insurance, and law. These individuals often can apply their prior work experience in a related investigative specialty.

Most computer forensic investigators learn their trade while working for a law enforcement agency, either as a sworn officer or a civilian computer forensic analyst. They are trained at their agency’s computer forensics training program. Many people enter law enforcement specifically to get this training and establish a reputation before moving to the private sector.

For private detective and investigator jobs, most employers look for individuals with ingenuity, persistence, and assertiveness. A candidate must not be afraid of confrontation, should communicate well, and should be able to think on his or her feet. Good interviewing and interrogation skills also are important and usually are acquired in earlier careers in law enforcement or other fields. Because the courts often are the judge of a properly conducted investigation, the investigator must be able to present the facts in a manner that a jury will believe. The screening process for potential employees typically includes a background check for a criminal history.

Some investigators receive certification from a professional organization to demonstrate competency in a field. For example, the National Association of Legal Investigators confers the Certified Legal Investigator designation to licensed investigators who devote a majority of their practice to negligence or criminal defense investigations. To receive the designation, applicants must satisfy experience, educational, and continuing-training requirements and must pass written and oral exams.

ASIS, a trade organization for the security industry, offers the Professional Certified Investigator certification. To qualify, applicants must have a high school diploma or equivalent; have 5 years of investigations experience, including 2 years managing investigations; and must pass an exam.

Most private-detective agencies are small, with little room for advancement. Usually, there are no defined ranks or steps, so advancement takes the form of increases in salary and assignment status. Many detectives and investigators start their own firms after gaining a few years of experience. Corporate and legal investigators may rise to supervisor or manager of the security or investigations department.

Private detectives and investigators held about 52,000 jobs in 2006. About 30 percent were self-employed, including many for whom investigative work was a second job.

Around 34 percent of detective and investigator jobs were in investigation and security services, including private detective agencies, while another 9 percent were in department or other general merchandise stores. The rest worked mostly in State and local government, legal services firms, employment services companies, insurance agencies, and credit mediation establishments, including banks and other depository institutions.

Sharp competition is expected for most jobs despite faster-than-average employment growth. A degree is definitely a plus.

Employment of private detectives and investigators is expected to grow 18 percent over the 2006-16 decade, faster than the average for all occupations. Increased demand for private detectives and investigators will result from heightened security concerns, increased litigation, and the need to protect confidential information and property of all kinds.

The proliferation of criminal activity on the Internet, such as identity theft, spamming, e-mail harassment, and illegal downloading of copyrighted materials, will also increase the demand for private investigators.

Employee background checks, conducted by private investigators, will become standard for an increasing number of jobs.

Growing financial activity worldwide will increase the demand for investigators— to control internal and external financial losses, to monitor competitors, and to prevent industrial spying.

There will be many increasing opportunities at the entry level. Build from there, and work your way up the ladder.

Begin with your degree in Criminal Justice, Police Science, Criminology, or Computer Forensics.

A career as Private Investigator, Legal Investigator, Corporate Investigator, or Financial Investigator, is yours for the earning.

Every day will be an adventure, good or bad. You’ll never be bored!

For information on local licensing requirements, contact your State Department of Public Safety, State Division of Licensing, or local or State police headquarters.

For information on a career as a legal investigator and about the Certified Legal Investigator credential, contact:

• National Association of Legal Investigators, 908 21st St., Sacramento, CA 95814-3118. http://www.nalionline.org

For more information about investigative and other security careers, about the Professional Certified Investigator credential, and for a list of colleges and universities offering security-related courses and majors, contact:

• ASIS, 1625 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314-2818. http://www.asisonline.org

He speaks a language you understand. But only you. The rest of the squad hears only his stress. He talks so fast that you miss a word now and then. It’s like listening to HipHop backward. But you get it. You and only you.

The squad on patrol wears armor, carries automatic weapons, and they are tired, disgusted, and they have seen too many of their buddies blown away. Someone inside the house with cracked walls is sobbing in terror. The day is hot and dry and dust is blowing and and flies drink your sweat.

The windows of the house are blocked from inside. That’s why the patrol stopped here.

“Ask him why the windows are blocked off,” says the Patrol Leader, a tough sergeant on her third tour. “What’s he hiding?”

You ask the man this. In his language, he says, “We cram old blankets and cardboard and hay into our windows to block the heat and light and noise, to give a little privacy.”

“That’s crap,” the Patrol Leader says. She’s lost two troopers in the past month. She no longer believes anything anybody says. “Tell him I’ll arrest him if he tries to stop us searching his house for weapons.”

You know she could be right. It might be a trick. A trap. An ambush.

You know the soldiers have seen it all. They don’t believe anybody except each other. They don’t speak the language. You don’t want them hurt.

You interpret and they wait, warily, sullenly, numbly, their weapons ready. Their night-vision goggles give them the aspect of ants from another world. The local old people are terrified of this, but the children laugh and call them bugs. Only you know what the kids are saying. The soldiers hate that.

“We’re going in,” says the Patrol Leader, losing patience. “Tell him not to resist and no big deal.”

Now other villagers have come out to stare. It’s well-known that every home has a hidden weapon. Bandits, renegades, so common. Every father keeps a gun hidden.

“Please believe me, sir,” says the man on his knees. He knows you are his only hope of being understood. “My children are crying, my mother is old, my father is sick. You say you come to free us all, yet you have shamed me on my knees. I have daughters inside. My mother. My father and grandfather. Do not search there. Please. To search women is a sin. To humiliate old people is a sin. Do this bad thing, and all my family, from every village, will repay this act in kind, in blood, as a sacred oath I swear it.”

You interpret, exactly. You speak alternately in two languages. The situation has gone from commonplace to very dangerous. You believe that every soldier should be required to speak the language of any country they invade, for their own protection, if nothing else. But they know barely a phrase or two.

You’re the only hope of every human here. More villagers are coming out to stare, to mutter among themselves.

In their language, they shout: “We know this man! He is a very good man! Why humble him like a cur?”

The soldiers have no idea what the shouts mean. The Patrol leader says, “Watch your 6, people.”

Hearing only the tone of aggression, the surrounded troopers move apart in combat spacing, turning to face the seeming threat. They lock and load their M4’s.

You are the only thing keeping back a colossal disaster. An incident here, this potential tragedy, could impact a thousand soldiers and ten thousand inhabitants of this land. You and only you can stop it. Only you can speak both languages.

You convince the patrol leader to try a different tact. “Let the man stand up. Offer him something, a little gift, anything.”

The Patrol Leader is smart, not softening, but seeing another way to get the job done. Gives him a melted Snickers. “Okay, I’ll play the cliche good guy.”

The man looks oddly at the candy bar, but is glad to be standing. The neighboring villagers seem to relax just a notch.

The squad shifts restlessly. They don’t want a fight but they are willing to do what they are here to do. One way or another. That’s what they do. It’s why they’re here.

You talk fast and keep talking, bridging two worlds. With the magic of your language skills, you communicate. It’s a dance of life or death.

You feel the tension lessen, defuse. You negotiate. If you can somehow just get the villager to invite the Patrol Leader into his home, maybe nobody will die.

You know all this because you are an interpreter.

Your power to translate is a gift of life. Because you have a degree in languages, you have stopped death here and now, in it’s tracks.

You enable the cross-cultural communication necessary in today’s society by converting one language into another. You do more than simply translate words— you relay concepts and ideas between languages.

You thoroughly understand the subject matter in which you work— in order to accurately convert information from one language, known as the source language, into another, the target language. And you are sensitive to the cultures associated with your languages of expertise.

Interpreters and translators are often discussed together because they share some common traits. For example, both must be fluent in at least two languages—a native, or active, language and a secondary, or passive, language; a small number of interpreters and translators are fluent in two or more passive languages. Their active language is the one that they know best and into which they interpret or translate, and their passive language is one for which they have nearly perfect knowledge.

Although some people do both, interpretation and translation are different professions. Interpreters deal with spoken words, translators with written words. Each task requires a distinct set of skills and aptitudes, and most people are better suited for one or the other. While interpreters often work into and from both languages, translators generally work only into their active language.

Interpreters convert one spoken language into another—or, in the case of sign-language interpreters, between spoken communication and sign language. This requires interpreters to pay attention carefully, understand what is communicated in both languages, and express thoughts and ideas clearly. Strong research and analytical skills, mental dexterity, and an exceptional memory also are important.

There are two types of interpretation: simultaneous and consecutive. Simultaneous interpretation requires interpreters to listen and speak (or sign) at the same time. In simultaneous interpretation, the interpreter begins to convey a sentence being spoken while the speaker is still talking.

Ideally, simultaneous interpreters should be so familiar with a subject that they are able to anticipate the end of the speaker’s sentence. Because they need a high degree of concentration, simultaneous interpreters work in pairs, with each interpreting for 20- to 30-minute periods. This type of interpretation is required at international conferences and is sometimes used in the courts.

In contrast to simultaneous interpretation’s immediacy, consecutive interpretation begins only after the speaker has verbalized a group of words or sentences. Consecutive interpreters often take notes while listening to the speakers, so they must develop some type of note-taking or shorthand system. This form of interpretation is used most often for person-to-person communication, during which the interpreter is positioned near both parties.

Translators convert written materials from one language into another. They must have excellent writing and analytical ability. And because the documents that they translate must be as flawless as possible, they also need good editing skills.

The way in which translators do their jobs has changed with advances in technology.

Today, nearly all translation work is done on a computer, and most assignments are received and submitted electronically. This enables translators to work from almost anywhere, and a large percentage of them work from home.

The Internet provides advanced research capabilities and valuable language resources, such as specialized dictionaries and glossaries. In some cases, use of machine-assisted translation—including memory tools that provide comparisons of previous translations with current work—helps save time and reduce repetition.

Conference interpreters work at conferences that have non-English-speaking attendees. This work includes international business and diplomacy, although conference interpreters interpret for any organization that works with foreign language speakers.

Employers prefer high-level interpreters who have the ability to translate from at least two passive languages into one active (native) language—for example, the ability to interpret from Spanish and French into English. For some positions, such as those with the United Nations, this qualification is mandatory.

Court interpreters work in a variety of legal settings, such as attorney-client meetings, preliminary hearings, depositions, trials, and arraignments. Success as a court interpreter requires an understanding of both legal terminology and colloquial language.

Literary translators adapt written literature from one language into another. They may translate any number of documents, including journal articles, books, poetry, and short stories. Literary translation is related to creative writing; literary translators must create a new text in the target language that reproduces the content and style of the original. Whenever possible, literary translators work closely with authors to best capture their intended meanings and literary characteristics.

This type of work often is done as a sideline by university professors; however, opportunities exist for well-established literary translators.

Localization translators constitute a relatively recent and rapidly expanding specialty. Localization involves the complete adaptation of a product for use in a different language and culture. At its earlier stages, this work dealt primarily with software localization, but the specialty has expanded to include the adaptation of Internet sites and products in manufacturing and other business sectors. The goal of these specialists is to make the product to appear as if it were originally manufactured in the country where it will be sold and supported.

Medical interpreters and translators provide language services to health care patients with limited English proficiency. Medical interpreters help patients to communicate with doctors, nurses, and other medical staff. Translators working in this specialty primarily convert patient materials and informational brochures issued by hospitals and medical facilities into the desired language. Medical interpreters need a strong grasp of medical and colloquial terminology in both languages, along with cultural sensitivity regarding how the patient receives the information. They must remain detached but aware of the patient’s feelings and pain.

Sign language interpreters facilitate communication between people who are deaf or hard of hearing and people who can hear. Sign language interpreters must be fluent in English and in American Sign Language (ASL), which combines signing, finger spelling, and specific body language. ASL has its own grammatical rules, sentence structure, idioms, historical contexts, and cultural nuances. Sign language interpreting, like foreign language interpreting, involves more than simply replacing a word of spoken English with a sign representing that word.

Self-employed and freelance interpreters and translators need general business skills to successfully manage their finances and careers. They must set prices for their work, bill customers, keep financial records, and market their services to attract new business and build their client base.

Interpreters and translators must be fluent in at least two languages.

Their educational backgrounds may vary widely, but most have a bachelor’s degree.

In high school, students can prepare for these careers by taking a broad range of courses that include English writing and comprehension, foreign languages, and basic computer proficiency. Other helpful pursuits include spending time abroad, engaging in direct contact with foreign cultures, and reading extensively on a variety of subjects in English and at least one other language.

Although a bachelor’s degree is often required, interpreters and translators note that it is acceptable to major in something other than a language. An educational background in a particular field of study provides a natural area of subject matter expertise.

Formal programs in interpreting and translation are available at colleges nationwide and through non-university training programs, conferences, and courses.

Many people who work as conference interpreters or in more technical areas—such as localization, engineering, or finance—have master’s degrees, while those working in the community as court or medical interpreters or translators are more likely to complete job-specific training programs.

Volunteer opportunities are available through community organizations, hospitals, and sporting events, such as marathons, that involve international competitors. The American Translators Association works with the Red Cross to provide volunteer interpreters in crisis situations. All translation can be used as examples for potential clients, even translation done as practice.

The American Translators Association provides certification in more than 24 language combinations for its members; other options include a certification program offered by The Translators and Interpreters Guild. Many interpreters are not certified.

Federal courts have certification for Spanish, Navajo, and Haitian Creole interpreters, and many State and municipal courts offer their own forms of certification. The National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators also offers certification for court interpreting.

The U.S. Department of State has a three-test series for interpreters, including simple consecutive interpreting (for escort work), simultaneous interpreting (for court or seminar work), and conference-level interpreting (for international conferences). These tests are not referred to directly as certification, but successful completion often indicates that a person has an adequate level of skill to work in the field.

The National Association of the Deaf and the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) jointly offer certification for general sign interpreters. In addition, the registry offers specialty tests in legal interpreting, speech reading, and deaf-to-deaf interpreting—which includes interpreting between deaf speakers with different native languages and from ASL to tactile signing.

Interpreters and translators held about 41,000 jobs in 2006. However, the actual number of interpreters and translators is probably significantly higher because many work in the occupation only sporadically.

Interpreters and translators are employed in a variety of industries, reflecting the diversity of employment options in the field. About 33 worked in public and private educational institutions, such as schools, colleges, and universities. About 12 worked in health care and social assistance, many of whom worked for hospitals. Another 10 worked in other areas of government, such as Federal, State and local courts. Other employers of interpreters and translators include publishing companies, telephone companies, airlines, and interpreting and translating agencies.

About 22 percent of interpreters and translators are self-employed. Many who freelance in the occupation work only part time, relying on other sources of income to supplement earnings from interpreting or translation.

Interpreters and translators can expect much faster than average employment growth over the next decade. Job prospects vary by specialty. Employment of interpreters and translators is projected to increase 24 percent over the 2006-16 decade, much faster than the average for all occupations.

This growth will be driven partly by strong demand in health care settings and work related to homeland security. Additionally, higher demand for interpreters and translators results directly from the broadening of international ties and the increase in the number of foreign language speakers in the United States. Both of these trends are expected to continue, contributing to relatively rapid growth in the number of jobs for interpreters and translators.

Current events and changing political environments, often difficult to foresee, will increase the need for people who can work with other languages. For example, homeland security needs are expected to drive increasing demand for interpreters and translators of Middle Eastern and North African languages, primarily in Federal Government agencies.

Demand will remain strong for translators of the languages referred to as “PFIGS”—Portuguese, French, Italian, German, and Spanish; Arabic and other Middle Eastern languages; and the principal Asian languages—Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Demand for American Sign Language interpreters will grow rapidly, driven by the increasing use of video relay services, which allow individuals to conduct video calls using a sign language interpreter over an Internet connection.

Technology has made the work of interpreters and translators easier. However, technology is not likely to have a negative impact on employment of interpreters and translators because such innovations are incapable of producing work comparable with work produced by these professionals.

Urban areas, especially Washington D.C., New York, and cities in California, provide the largest numbers of employment possibilities, especially for interpreters; however, as the immigrant population spreads into more rural areas, jobs in smaller communities will become more widely available.

Salaried interpreters and translators had median hourly earnings of $17.10 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $12.94 and $22.60. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $9.88, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $30.91.

Individuals classified as language specialists for the Federal Government earned an average of $76,287 annually in 2007.

Limited information suggests that some highly skilled interpreters and translators—for example, high-level conference interpreters—working full time can earn more than $100,000 annually.

Our rapidly shrinking global society demands ever faster means of universal communication. This is as true in politics, as it is in business, or any area of society.

Every university or college offers language programs in depth.

Online learning is an excellent tool for language degrees.

Our multi-cultural global economy — and our beast global social networking sites, like Facebook and Perfspot— all bring many opportunities for translators to learn, earn, and flourish.

Choose the language that suits you best.

Get a degree that truly empowers you. That helps our world become a little better, every time two cultures meet.

Bring an interface of understanding to a world stressed by ignorance, danger, and suspicion!

For general career information, contact:

• American Translators Association, 225 Reinekers Ln., Suite 590, Alexandria, VA 22314. Internet: http://www.atanet.org>

For more detailed information by specialty, contact the association affiliated with that subject area:

• American Literary Translators Association, The University of Texas at Dallas, Box 830688 Mail Station JO51, Richardson, TX 75083-0688. http://www.literarytranslators.org
• Localization Industry Standards Association, Domaine en Prael, CH-1323 Romainmôtier, Switzerland. http://www.lisa.org
• National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, 603 Stewart St., Suite 610, Seattle, WA 98101. http://www.najit.org
• National Council on Interpreting in Health Care, 270 West Lawrence St., Albany, NY 12208. http://www.ncihc.org
• Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 333 Commerce St., Alexandria, VA 22314. http://www.rid.org

For information about testing to become a contract interpreter or translator with the U.S. State Department, contact:

• U.S. Department of State, Office of Language Services, 2401 E St. NW., SA-1, Room H1400, Washington, DC 20520-2204

Information on obtaining positions as interpreters and translators with the Federal Government is available from the Office of Personnel Management through USAJOBS, the Federal Government’s official employment information system. This resource is at http://www.usajobs.opm.gov, or through an interactive voice response telephone system at (703) 724-1850 or TDD (978) 461-8404. These numbers are not toll free, and charges may result.

This is not some catchy fiction to catch your attention. I wish it were. It’s even worse than that.

There is no cheese, no butter, no dry milk powder, no grains or anything else left in the once-vast U.S. “strategic” food reserve.

Our strategic food reserve— like Joseph’s 7 years of grain storage for the Pharaoh— was our guarantee against any possible famine. The food reserve worked the same way as the Federal reserve is supposed to work with money, keeping our collective needs satisfied and in balance.

That hedge against mass death by hunger in America is now gone. The U.S. government, in it’s infinite wisdom (why ask why?) sold it to raise cash. While the food reserve was being sold off, we arrogantly continued to squander trillions of dollars, on the flashy toys of conquest. The boy-toys the politicians so love to play with. Planes, ships, bombs.

Think it can’t happen, this famine thing? Right now, while you read this, 100 million kids are starving to death.

Most live in so-called “Third World” countries. And there are others much closer, who live within a mile or two of where you sit, right now.

Conveniently, our supermarkets are still crammed with mountains of cheap food, but it’s getting more expensive every day. Living in fear of losing our jobs and homes, we watch “reality” TV shows and sports events, keeping our minds as numb as possible.

After all, we coined the concept even of “comfort food.” How wrong is that? Food eaten not for hunger but for gluttony, pure and simple. Food used as a drug, a tranquilizer for the fears that torment us.

For the first time in the history of Mankind, there are more sickly obese humans than there are sickly starving humans. And we are right to fret about our exploding population of gluttons, the volunteers of obesity.

So how could there be any danger of famine, with so much food in our stores? And what about the coming harvest, and the stocks of commercial foodstuffs?

A record harvest, at least, that’s the hope. But here’s the thing— this one harvest, this lucky score by our farmers— what will we do with it?

Food security is emerging as a global focal point. As the global climate wildly shifts, regions that were always wet and fertile become dry and barren. Other areas that were dry become flooded and washed out.

The U.S. “breadbasket” of the midwest is slowly and inexorably moving northward. Canada will become the zone best tempered for growing wheat and corn, many scientists believe, while Kansas and Iowa and Nebraska may alternately dry out or flood out.

Crops that are engineered to thrive in such flexing conditions, may be humanity’s only hope for survival.

Genetically-altered food is scary, of course. We can’t know the potential for life-altering consequences.

The dilemma is horrifying. Famine, though, that we do understand.

A year ago, Larry Matlack, President of the American Agriculture Movement (AAM), spoke up against the sale of U.S. grain reserves— 18.37 million bushels of wheat from USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust.

Matlack said, “According to the May 1, 2008 CCC inventory report there are only 24.1 million bushels of wheat in inventory, so after this sale there will be only 2.7 million bushels of wheat left the entire CCC inventory.”

That would leave enough wheat to make 1/2 of a loaf of bread for each of the 300 million people in America!

Matlack was even more right that he dreaded. As we’ve said, there is now ZERO grain left in CCC inventory.

Matlack went on to say, “Our concern is not that we are using the remainder of our strategic grain reserves for humanitarian relief. AAM fully supports the action and all humanitarian food relief.”

Who among us can do anything about this? Who has tried?

Activists like Matlack stuck their neck out, they tried.

And great scientists have spent their lives trying. One of the greatest food geneticists just passed away, at age 95, a highly-educated man who used his knowledge to fight famine— Nobel laureate Norman E. Borlaug.

Borlaug was an agricultural scientist who helped develop disease-resistant wheat, so important in many poor countries. A 1970 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Borlaug was a distinguished professor of international agriculture at Texas A&M. Borlaug started at Texas A&M in 1984, after working as a scientist in a program that introduced scientific techniques for preventing famine in Mexico. He traveled worldwide, working for improvements in agricultural science and food policy.

Borlaug was known as a champion of high-yield crop varieties, and other science and agricultural innovations to help fight hunger in developing nations. All too soon, his work may be crucial in fending off a famine in all the nations, world-wide.

“We all eat at least three times a day in privileged nations, and yet we take food for granted,” Borlaug said, near the end of his long, amazing life. “There has been great progress, and food is more equitably distributed. But hunger is a commonplace, and famine appears all too often.”

We are what we eat. Our bodies are made of the foodstuffs, good or bad, we consume.

If we eat junk our bodies become junk. If we eat nothing, we shrivel and die. We certainly cannot eat warplanes or bombs. But if science got us into this mess, maybe science is the only thing left that can possibly save us, too.

The so-called Third World” is coming closer every day. In famine, there will be no other World but the Third, for everyone.

What can anyone do? That’s not the question. The right question is— what can YOU do?

Educate yourself!

Learn, study, become a food supply activist, a Larry Matlack— create ways to conserve what we already have.

Or create new solutions— learn, educate yourself, and become a genetic scientist, like Dr Norman Borlaug— create ways to produce what we need, without disastrous consequences.

Borlaug created the World Food Prize, which recognizes the work of scientists and humanitarians, who’ve helped fight world hunger through advanced agriculture.

Wouldn’t this be worth your years of study— to get the degree that would empower you with knowledge, giving you the tools to explore solutions and to create hope for Mankind?

Wouldn’t this be a worthy goal for your own higher education? To gain knowledge, to fight the oncoming nightmare of hunger and famine!

It feels incredibly liberating— so weird and amazing— to be feared, misunderstood, mysterious and powerful. GRaaaRRRRR!

As you walk from makeup, through to the cameras, onto the set, the director grins approval, and all the crew move quickly out of your way. Some of the grips and crew are actually scared, seeing you, even though they know it’s you. An actor.

The heavy makeup is hot and claustrophobic, and you walk the way you and the director worked out, kind of the way tough guys in prison walk. No fear walking. And as you walk, getting into the animalness of the role, the feeling of werewolf power grows, as you remember the scene you’re about to shoot. The one where you tear off the head of the cage-fighter Repo Man, the thug who’s been stalking your childhood sweetheart. Another actor.

That guy is actually a good friend… but playing his part, he roughed you up in the last scene. And now, you’ve gone through your hairy and fangy transmogrification, into your better half, an incredibly powerfully cool werewolf, and you’re ready to kick some mere human butt… yeah!

So today you are a werewolf. You get to be so many things, so many people. You live so many lives. Life is a constant surprise.

Last month you were a car salesman, in an infomercial about clunker trade-ins. A thing for money. But before that you shot a little movie of your own, about alien space invaders, and you were a “bug hunter” with a pulse rifle. It’s making the film festival rounds. Maybe a distributor will pick it up.

You’re doing an equity play, too, a labor of love, for less money than a Walmart greeter. It’s a revival of “streetcar.” You play Stanley, the scumbag bully, and you love dropping to your knees, ripping open your t-shirt, throwing your head back, and crying, “StelllllaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAH!” Oh yeah, the actress playing Stella? She’s a babe. And incredibly talented. You can’t wait for the next performance. She studied in a legendary drama program at her university, and it shows.

Actors live a thousand lives, maybe more. They express ideas and create images in theater, film, radio, television, and other performing arts media. They interpret a writer’s script to entertain, inform, or instruct an audience. Actors perform and exist, role to role, under constant pressure. Many face stress from the continual need to find their next job.

Although many actors work in New York or Los Angeles, far more work in other places. They perform in local or regional television studios, theaters, or film production companies, often creating advertising or training films or small-scale independent movies.

Actors perform in stage, radio, television, video, or motion picture productions. They also work in cabarets, nightclubs, and theme parks. Actors portray characters, and, for more complex roles, they research their character’s traits and circumstances so that they can better understand a script.

Most actors struggle to find steady work and only a few achieve recognition as stars. Some well-known, experienced performers may be cast in supporting roles or make brief, cameo appearances, speaking only one or two lines. Others work as “extras,” with no lines to deliver. Some actors do voiceover and narration work for advertisements, animated features, books on tape, and other electronic media. They also teach in high school or university drama departments, acting conservatories, or public programs.

To succeed, actors need patience and commitment to their craft. Actors strive to deliver flawless performances, often while working under undesirable and unpleasant conditions. Producers and directors organize rehearsals and meet with writers, designers, financial backers, and production technicians. They experience stress not only from these activities, but also from the need to adhere to budgets, union work rules, and production schedules.

For any actor, education and training are powerful assets which build upon a foundation of natural talent.

Formal dramatic training, either through an acting conservatory or a university program, may give inroads and accelerates a career, but some people successfully enter the field without it. However, every actor is competing with every other actor for the roles they are able to play. Every advantage is key.

Most aspiring actors participate in high school and college plays, work in college radio or television stations, or perform with local community theater groups. Local and regional theater experience and work in summer stock, on cruise lines, or in theme parks helps many young actors hone their skills. Membership in one of the actors’ unions and work experience in smaller communities may lead to work in larger cities, notably New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles. In television and film, actors and directors typically start in smaller television markets or with independent movie production companies and then work their way up to larger media markets and major studio productions. A few people go into acting after successful careers in other fields, such as broadcasting or announcing.

Actors, regardless of experience level, may pursue workshop training through acting conservatories or mentoring by a drama coach. Sometimes actors learn a foreign language or train with a dialect coach to develop an accent to make their characters more realistic.

Actors need talent and creativity that will enable them to portray different characters. Because competition for parts is fierce, versatility and a wide range of related performance skills, such as singing, dancing, skating, juggling, acrobatics, or miming are especially useful. Experience in horseback riding, fencing, linguistics, or stage combat also can lift some actors above the average and get them noticed by producers and directors. Actors must have poise, stage presence, the ability to affect an audience, and the ability to follow direction. Modeling experience also may be helpful. Physical appearance, such as having certain features and being the specified size and weight, often is a deciding factor in who gets a particular role.

Many professional actors rely on agents or managers to find work, negotiate contracts, and plan their careers. Agents generally earn a percentage of the pay specified in an actor’s contract. Other actors rely solely on attending open auditions for parts. Trade publications list the times, dates, and locations of these auditions.

Some actors begin as movie extras. To become an extra, one usually must be listed by casting agencies that supply extras to the major movie studios in Hollywood. Applicants are accepted only when the numbers of people of a particular type on the list, for example, athletic young women, old men, or small children, falls below what is needed. In recent years, only a very small proportion of applicants have succeeded in being listed.

Actors may advance to lead roles and receive star billing. A few actors move into acting-related jobs, such as drama coaches or directors of stage, television, radio, or motion picture productions. Some teach drama privately or in colleges and universities. Many actors studying for a bachelor’s degree take courses in radio and television broadcasting, communications, film, theater, drama, or dramatic literature. Many stage actors continue their academic training and receive a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree.

Employment in the drama occupations is expected to grow 11 percent during the 2006-16 decade.

Expanding cable and satellite television operations, increasing production and distribution of major studio and independent films, and rising demand for films in other countries should create more employment opportunities for actors.

Median hourly earnings of actors were $11.61 in May 2006.

• The middle 50 percent earned between $8.47 and $22.51.
• The lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.31, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $51.02.
• Median hourly earnings were $16.82 in performing arts companies and $10.69 in the motion picture and video industry.

Under terms of a joint SAG and AFTRA contract covering all unionized workers, motion picture and television actors with speaking parts earned a minimum daily rate of $759 or $2,634 for a 5-day week as of July 1, 2007. Actors also receive contributions to their health and pension plans and additional compensation for reruns and foreign telecasts of the productions in which they appear.

Then there are the actors with managers, with agents at CAA, ICM, WME… actors who won’t walk onto the set for less than 5 million, 10 million, 20 million, and points with a dollar-one gross profit definition. Actors who have won the hearts of the entire planet Earth.

So you drive a 20-year-old car and live in an apartment. So Will Smith is getting upwards of 20 million per movie. You just got a call from an agent about a movie role, and it may be the break that puts you over the top.

Acting is a Cinderella game. Each role could bring the magic that tells the world who you are, and they love who you are.

Today you’re a werewolf. Tomorrow, who knows? Your life is an onrushing adventure, totally unpredictable. And you love it.

You put in the years in drama classes, studying from professionals, you got a degree, and you built upon it. In college, with your professors, (many of whom have film and stage credits of their own), you made amazing industry contacts.

In college, you proved yourself on stage, and in front of the cameras. You paid your dues at the university level, and you are building upon that every day. Whether a director talks about Ibsen, or Stanley Kowalski, or Godot, Jane Austen or Travis Bickle, you understand his shorthand.

If you want to live a thousand lives, hedge your game, get a drama degree. Learn with other actors.

Advanced curricula may include courses in stage speech and movement, directing, playwriting, and design, as well as intensive acting workshops. The National Association of Schools of Theatre accredits 150 programs in theater arts.

Be one with your talent, hone it, mature it, before throwing yourself into the savage competition as a pro. Why wouldn’t you learn your craft, if you love it?

Our world is heating up, choking to death. We live on the thin crust of a rock, spinning in space. The only thing protecting us, from the deep cold abyss, is the fragile coating of air a few miles above us. The same air that we breathe. And we are burning it. Sealed in our cars, our planes, our buildings, electrified by our coal-fired power plants. We keep feeding our ravenous machine world, in an ever-expanding concept of capital growth. It’s our mass addiction. It’s what we do.

We are turning our skies to smoke, our land to concrete, our water to filth. When there’s nothing left, when we’ve consumed it all, when the seas are filled with trash and the fish are a memory, when the land is ripped apart and empty, we will be gone…. like all the wondrous species and lush forests that will die, as we go.

Slow fade to black. Nothing left but our television and cell phone microwave signals, traveling through space infinitely, electronic echoes of mass human folly.

This is how the world ends? Not with a bang, but a Twitter? Only if we allow it!

But what can you do, you ask? Do you consider yourself “Green”? Does the prospect of a dying world horrify you? Do you feel compelled to take action? You can join Green Orgs, write letters, donate. All good things, yes.

But there’s much much more that you can do. Something much more potentially effective. If you really want to make a difference.

Become an environmental scientist. Become an ecologist. Become a hydrologist.

Environmental scientists, ecologists, and hydrologists protect the environment. With the knowledge gained in their university studies, they identify ways that human behavior can be modified in the future to avoid ground-water contamination and depletion of the ozone layer.

They study the properties of underground and surface waters, locate water and energy resources. They predict water-related geologic hazards, and provide environmental site assessments and advice on indoor air quality and hazardous-waste-site remediation.

Environmental scientists conduct research to identify, abate, and eliminate hazards that affect people, wildlife, and their environments. These workers analyze measurements or observations of air, food, water, and soil to determine the way to clean and preserve the environment. Understanding the issues involved in protecting the environment—degradation, conservation, recycling, and replenishment—is central to the work of environmental scientists. They often use this understanding to design and monitor waste disposal sites, preserve water supplies, and reclaim contaminated land and water to comply with Federal environmental regulations. They also write risk assessments, describing the likely affect of construction and other environmental changes; write technical proposals; and give presentations to managers and regulators.

Hydrologists study the quantity, distribution, circulation, and physical properties of bodies of water. Often, they specialize in either underground water or surface water. They examine the form and intensity of precipitation, its rate of infiltration into the soil, its movement through the Earth, and its return to the ocean and atmosphere. Hydrologists use sophisticated techniques and instruments. For example, they may use remote sensing technology, data assimilation, and numerical modeling to monitor the change in regional and global water cycles. Some surface-water hydrologists use sensitive stream-measuring devices to assess flow rates and water quality.

Many environmental scientists do work and have training that is similar to other physical or life scientists, but they focus on environmental issues. Many specialize in subfields such as environmental ecology and conservation, environmental chemistry, environmental biology, or fisheries science.

Specialties affect the specific activities that environmental scientists perform, although recent understandings of the interconnectedness of life processes have blurred some traditional classifications. For example, environmental ecologists study the relationships between organisms and their environments and the effects of factors such as population size, pollutants, rainfall, temperature, and altitude, on both. They may collect, study, and report data on air, soil, and water using their knowledge of various scientific disciplines. Ecological modelers study ecosystems, pollution control, and resource management using mathematical modeling, systems analysis, thermodynamics, and computer techniques. Environmental chemists study the toxicity of various chemicals, that is, how those chemicals affect plants, animals, and people.

Some environmental scientists have a degree in environmental science. Many, however, earn degrees in life science, chemistry, geology, geophysics, atmospheric science, or physics and then apply their education to the environment. They often need research or work experience related to environmental science.

A bachelor’s degree in environmental science offers an interdisciplinary approach to the natural sciences, with an emphasis on biology, chemistry, and geology. Undergraduate environmental science majors typically focus on data analysis and physical geography, which are particularly useful in studying pollution abatement, water resources, or ecosystem protection, restoration, and management. Understanding the geochemistry of inorganic compounds is becoming increasingly important in developing remediation goals.

Students interested in working in the environmental or regulatory fields, either in environmental consulting firms or for Federal or State governments, should take courses in hydrology, hazardous-waste management, environmental legislation, chemistry, fluid mechanics, and geologic logging, which is the gathering of geologic data. An understanding of environmental regulations and government permit issues also is valuable for those planning to work in mining and oil and gas extraction.

Students interested in hydrology should take courses in the physical sciences, geophysics, chemistry, engineering science, soil science, mathematics, aquatic biology, atmospheric science, geology, oceanography, hydrogeology, and the management or conservation of water resources. In some cases, a bachelor’s degree in a hydrologic science is sufficient for positions consulting about water quality or wastewater treatment.

For environmental scientists and hydrologists who consult, courses in business, finance, marketing, or economics may be useful. In addition, combining environmental science training with other disciplines such as engineering or business, qualifies these scientists for the widest range of jobs.

Environmental scientists and hydrologists held about 92,000 jobs in 2006. Jobs for hydrologists accounted for only 9 percent of the total. Many more individuals held environmental science faculty positions in colleges and universities, but they are classified as postsecondary teachers.

About 35 percent of environmental scientists were employed in State and local governments; 21 percent in management, scientific, and technical consulting services; 15 percent in architectural, engineering and related services; and 8 percent in the Federal Government. About 2 percent were self-employed.

Among hydrologists, 26 percent were employed in architectural, engineering, and related services, and 18 percent worked for management, scientific, and technical consulting services. In 2006, the Federal Government employed about 28 percent of hydrologists, mostly within the U.S. Department of the Interior for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and within the U.S. Department of Defense. Another 21 percent worked for State agencies, such as State geological surveys and State departments of conservation. About 2 percent of hydrologists were self-employed, most as consultants to industry or government.

Employment of environmental scientists is expected to increase by 25 percent between 2006 and 2016, much faster than the average for all occupations. Over the same period, employment of hydrologists should increase by 24 percent, also much faster than the average.

Much job growth will result from a continued need to monitor the quality of the environment, to interpret the impact of human actions on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and to develop strategies for restoring ecosystems.

Demand for hydrologists should also be strong as the population increases and moves to more environmentally sensitive locations. As people increasingly migrate toward coastal regions, for example, hydrologists will be needed to assess building sites for potential geologic hazards and to mitigate the effects of natural hazards such as floods, landslides, and hurricanes. Hydrologists also will be needed to study hazardous-waste sites and determine the effect of pollutants on soil and ground water so that engineers can design remediation systems. Increased government regulations, such as those regarding the management of storm water, and issues related to water conservation, deteriorating coastal environments, and rising sea levels also will stimulate employment growth for these workers.

Median annual earnings of environmental scientists were $56,100 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $42,840 and $74,480. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $34,590, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $94,670.

Median annual earnings of hydrologists were $66,260 in 2006, with the middle 50 percent earning between $51,370 and $82,140, the lowest 10 percent earning less than $42,080, and the highest 10 percent earning more than $98,320.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, beginning salary offers in July 2007 for graduates with bachelor’s degrees in an environmental science averaged $38,336 a year. In 2007, the Federal Government’s average salary for hydrologists was $82,217.

A bachelor’s degree in an earth science is adequate for a few entry-level positions, but environmental scientists increasingly need a master’s degree in environmental science, hydrology, or a related natural science. A master’s degree also is the minimum educational requirement for most entry-level applied research positions in private industry, in State and Federal agencies, and at State geological surveys. A doctoral degree generally is necessary for college teaching and most research positions.

Many colleges and universities have fine science departments with very strong emphasis in the environmental studies. Wherever you live there is certain to be one nearby. Distance learning can fill the need for students with family duties, or hourly concerns.

If you are a “Greenie”, looking for a worthy place to invest your life’s work, Ecology needs you. It’s a growing field, ripe with need.

Good planets are hard to find. This is the only one we’ve got. What work could be more important?

Ecology… for the survival of the Earth itself… for you, your children, your children’s children…