Careers are shifting. People are working from home and implementing more technology in their nine-to-five jobs. The two new classes being offered at U.City, Game Design and Social Media and Marketing, are essential to developing new skills for careers in the 21st century and give students an opportunity to jumpstart into their future career fields.

Mike Daly is now teaching Intro to Game Design in room L215 and Joelle McIntosh is teaching Social Media and Marketing in room 324. Social media, the internet, and technology is becoming even more ingrained into our lives every day. Job opportunities in those fields are abundant, and skilled people are needed to fill those spots that are in high demand. Our generation can be the one to take on those roles.

“Overall employment in media and communication occupations is projected to grow 6 percent from 2021 to 2031, about as fast as the average for all occupations; this increase is expected to result in about 68,600 new jobs over the decade,” said the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

With this new growth it’s important to take advantage of these resources U.City is providing for students. There are many students that have a special skill, and want to make money off of it. By taking a Marketing class, you can learn how to grow to your full potential and how to run a professional and successful business. 

 “I think students that take this course should be interested, or have some interest, in business,” McIntosh said. “They should be creative thinkers, have a willingness to be pushed and stretched a bit, in terms of just thinking.” 

In addition to the marketing and social media management side of jobs in technology, computer science itself has skyrocketed over the years.

“Overall employment in computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow 15 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations; this increase is expected to result in about 682,800 new jobs over the decade,” the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

For some, college isn’t the right fit, or it isn’t an option due to a lack of resources, however these life and career skill courses are imperative to everyone’s future. They teach skills that most college majors and careers will require some skill, whether that be problem solving, graphic design, social media management, analytics and more. 

 “Do you like playing games?” Daly said. “Take this class. Do you like solving problems? Take this class. Do you think you are creative and want to show off? Take this class. Do you want to remake classic games? Take this class. Do you want to make new games? Take this class. Do you want to tell a story (in a game)? Take this class.” 

If you’re worried about fitting these classes into your schedule, Game Design with Mr. Daly is a semester class, making the class more accessible to more students. Marketing with Ms. Mcintosh is a year long class, which comes with the challenge of fitting it into our schedules. 

 “I am interested in exploring how it could possibly be a semester class,” McIntosh said. “I think that would allow more students to have an opportunity to take the class, and that’s important.” 

In contrast Game Design and Coding are offered as semester classes making them more accessible and allowing students to take advantage of both classes. 

 “I think this class will be a great class to help introduce computer science to some students that might not want to take a full year class like Computer Science Discoveries, Computer Science Principles, or LaunchCode,” said Daly. “I think this course will help feed kids into those classes. Those classes can lead kids almost directly into the job market.”

In order to adequately prepare for the future students have begun and will need to begin enforcing more career preparatory courses as college prices rise and the technology industry rises. If you are interested in taking either of these classes, talk to your student counselor to see how it can fit into your schedule. Both Ms. McIntosh and Mr. Daly are passionate about the subjects they are teaching, and want to help students explore their interests and flourish. You may even find your calling; the possibilities are endless.