2. Passions to Purpose
This activity aims to explore how student activities and interests help guide their choices.

Discuss
Did you know that your personal interests and activities can teach you a lot about who you are, what you like to do, and how you handle situations? It’s important to participate in activities, explore hobbies, and seek out new experiences. Why is this important? Your interests, activities, and hobbies can guide you in deciding what kind of job you might want in the future, how you solve problems, and what values and morals are important to you. Knowing this information about yourself is called self-awareness and can help shape your identity, decisions, and interactions with others.

Review
Let’s start by making a list of your personal interests, hobbies, and activities. This can include sports, music, art, technology, community events, cooking, etc. [Note to Instructors: Provide an example by modeling it. Start by asking the question and then answering it yourself. Write lists on board for all to see and add visual aids when necessary.]

Reflect
Using the Self-Evaluation Tool, fill out the Self-Awareness Section. It is important to know what qualities you have and which qualities you want to work on. Being aware of our interests and skills can help build confidence and with setting goals. Students can work individually to discuss and share.
- What do you like about these activities? Who do you do them with?
- What has participating in this interest / hobby / activity taught you?
- What words would someone use to describe you? What do you like about yourself?
- What has someone said about you that was nice?
- How do you feel when you do these interests / hobbies / activities?
- How do your interest / hobbies / activities help you become more independent?
- What does it mean to have “self-awareness”?

Click and Explore
Students may need to explore their interests and any activities they may be interested in. Here are some examples of recreational or leisure surveys. Students can choose activities they already participated in or have participated before, and activities they are interested in knowing more about.
- Leisure Interest Survey – multiple pages of activities for students to categorize into areas to help determine their interests.
- Hobbies Flashcards (printable) – images of hobbies, students can pick the ones they like the most.
- Sports Flashcards (printable) – images of sports, students can pick the ones they like the most.