Approximately 70 students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered at Austin Community College District’s (ACC) Highland Campus on Friday, October 2, for a conversation about what it means to live a good life and how college, career, and character contribute to that vision.

Hosted by the Character Education Initiative (CEI) and Career Life Design Services, the Community Conversation: Character, Career, and a Good Life invited participants to consider how personal values, professional aspirations, and meaningful connections shape their definitions of success.

Held at the Social Staircase in Building 1000, the event brought participants together in small, mixed groups of students, faculty, staff, and community members. Through guided discussions modeled after ACC’s Great Questions Community Seminars, participants explored questions such as:

  • How do you define a good life, and what role does career play in living one?
  • What does it mean to “make it,” and whose definition are you using? What happens when what you want and what your family expects don’t line up?
  • Does your work serve someone or something beyond yourself? What makes work worth doing: money, impact, growth, people, or something else?
  • What’s the difference between having the technical skills to get a job and having what it takes to thrive in that career?

The conversations also broadened the definition of work to include paid and unpaid employment, caregiving, volunteering, and everything in between. This perspective recognized the many responsibilities ACC students balance beyond the classroom.

Connecting Character With Career Readiness

Following the small-group discussions, participants reconvened for a panel conversation. A representative from each group shared a takeaway from their discussion, highlighting the different perspectives and ideas that emerged.

Several participants reflected on the growing importance of interpersonal skills in an increasingly technology-driven world. One participant noted that as artificial intelligence continues to evolve, the ability to connect and interact with others may become just as important as technical proficiency. Others emphasized that character development provides a foundation for success across career fields.

The event also offered students an opportunity to connect with the ACC community beyond the classroom. For student Skyler Hector, the experience was “eye-opening.” Participating in a discussion with faculty and staff helped her recognize that “as a student, I’m not utilizing the ACC community or the resources provided to us.” 

Another student, Giovanni Luna, described the event as a welcoming environment where participants could openly share their thoughts. “Something I took away from the event is how it felt like a safe space the entire event. No matter where we were located, it was okay to talk about what is on your mind, and I felt very welcomed by everyone,” Luna said.

Student worker Alina Goepferich appreciated what felt like a rare opportunity to engage in “deep and philosophical questions such as defining the good life, and what success and happiness looks like.” She also noted that she left the event having made “new friends!”

Bringing Character Education and Career Design Together

The event concluded with presentations from Curtiss Stevens, executive dean of Career Life Design Services, and Arun John, associate dean for the Liberal Education Advancement and Development (LEAD) initiative and CEI co-lead. Together, the presenters highlighted opportunities to connect character education and career development throughout the student experience.

The Community Conversation was designed to break down silos and bridge gaps by building shared language across campus roles and exploring how career, community, character, and collaboration intersect.

Continue the Conversation

The CEI recently co-sponsored a Great Questions Community Seminar exploring Humanity and AI on Thursday, October 22, at the Highland Campus. Participants discussed E. M. Forster’s 1909 short story “The Machine Stops,” which imagines a society shaped by intelligent machines, and considered how people should interact with and shape the technologies increasingly influencing their communities and lives.

To learn more about the initiatives featured in this event, watch this video about CEI, or visit the Character Education Initiative website and Career Life Design Services web page.