Help your teen find their direction. Let the choice be theirs.

I'm Anna. I'm sixteen, and I'm from Nelson. My story is made up, but the app you'll see is real. Everyone keeps asking me what I want to do after school. I always say, “Something with people, I guess.” Translation: no idea. What I don't mention is that I've been helping Nana every Wednesday for two years. Mostly cleaning her kitchen and keeping her company.

Last winter, I noticed she kept forgetting to drink. So I put a jug of water on her table. We started marking a little tick for every glass. She grumbled. Now she tries to beat her own score. Then our school started using Week by Week, an app with an AI coach. I thought it would tell me what job to do. It asked me about the things I already did. Like helping Nana. What did I actually enjoy about it? I hadn't really thought about that.

“I like noticing what would help,” I said. “And then doing something about it.” I'd never put it like that before. I told it about tennis, helping Nana, and a science result I was proud of. They showed up as little wins in the app. Then it helped me see the skills behind those things. Being reliable. Noticing when someone needs help. Sticking with something. And each skill had an example from my own life.

I'd never thought I had much to put on a CV. Turns out I had somewhere to start. Next morning on the bus, I looked at my career suggestions. Nursing was one of the options. The app showed how it connected with the things I'd told it, and what the training would involve. I'd never really pictured myself as a nurse. Now I wanted to find out more.

My first step was to compare two nursing courses and check their entry requirements. Chemistry and I aren't exactly friends. So I wrote down a question for our careers adviser. “Which subjects would keep nursing open for me?” The next Sunday, my cousins and I made a roster so Nana gets weekend visitors too.

At my weekly check-in, I added that as another win. The app helped me put a name to what I'd done. Organising people. Making a plan that actually works. Then practice exams hit. I was wrecked, and my next step didn't happen. I told the app and waited for the guilt trip. It suggested something smaller. Save one nursing course to look at after exams. That, I could do.

When our tennis coach got sick, I helped run the junior session. Twelve kids. I managed. Nobody cried. I logged it as a win, and the app helped me recognise another skill: leading a group. I asked what that might mean for my career options. Nursing still interested me. But now I could see another possibility for later. Leading a nursing team.

Turns out I like getting people organised, too. Sue next door is a charge nurse. The app helped me draft a message asking if I could ask her a few questions about nursing. I checked it and sent it myself. Her first piece of advice? “Get good at nursing first. Managing can come later.” That made sense.

Then I looked at a local care job in the app. It listed first aid as one of the requirements. I didn't have that yet. I tapped “Work on skill” and made a first aid course my next step. That weekend, I was practising CPR on a dummy called Gary. Gary made it. Through Connect, I also found three other tennis players at school. We use nicknames, and messaging has safety checks built in.

Now we play doubles at lunch. I'm the worst. Don't care. Last Wednesday, Nana asked me too. “So, what do you want to do after school?” “Nursing,” I said. “I'd like to start on the wards. And one day, maybe, lead a team.” Nana smiled. “Well, you've been practising on me for two years.” I haven't got my life sorted. The app never promised I would. But this direction feels like mine. I picked it myself.

And for the parents watching: my school provides access, so there's no cost to me. I signed up with a nickname, without giving my real name or email. I choose my goals and agree to my next steps. And when life gets busy, I can take things at my own pace.