I was so excited to get my copy of the Old Dominion University Alumni Magazine, The Monarch the other day. I quickly turned the pages until I found the feature about My Child’s Path. It is so fantastic to be recognized by your alma mater and I wouldn’t have traded my years at Old Dominion for anything!
A L U M N I P R O F I L E
‘My Child’s Path’
Researching Career Options is
Kid’s Work, According to
Maria Livecchi Connolly
Ever wonder what your kids will do when
they grow up? Or what you might do for a
second (or third) career? “My Child’s Path,”
the website of Maria Livecchi Connolly BA
’92, may lead you – and them – down the
right path. Connolly started the website to
inspire children and teenagers to research as
many career paths as possible, starting when
they’re young and curious. She makes the
information personal and approachable by
interviewing people about their careers and
posting the interviews as easy-to-read
Q&As. She describes more than 120 careers
online and is continually tracking down
new ones as people request them.
“I hope it leads to kids researching career
options before they make those important
life choices,” she says.
The idea for the website came to
Connolly during a long drive. She began
daydreaming about what her young son and daughter might do when they
grow up. Soon she was interviewing her family and friends and blogging about their careers. All interviews
on her site are from people who actually work in those fields, and she tries to get varied perspectives.
Teaching has been a constant in her life since she worked as a camp counselor in her youth. Her career
path took several turns, but always with a touch of teaching: preschool teacher, day care director,
insurance company employee (whose duties included training) and, now, career adviser. “In a roundabout
way, I am teaching kids about all of the career opportunities out there,” she says.
Connolly says the skills she learned at ODU, where she majored in secondary education and minored
in marketing and English, come in handy in marketing her new venture and in writing blog
posts. Other life lessons from college also help her run her business. “I am originally from Michigan,
and going away to school was a big learning experience,” she says. “Not only did I have to be successful
in my schooling, I had to mature into a responsible adult without the comfort of having my family
right around the corner. College taught me responsibility, communication and gave me drive.”
That drive has helped her build and market “My Child’s Path” (www.mychildspath.com). What’s
next? Maybe a book, a radio show or even a segment on TV geared toward teens. “I would love to be
known as ‘The Career Mom!’” she says.
–Marcia Cronin
You can read the entire magazine at …..
http://www.odu.edu/ao/monarchmag/