The Aspire 4-Year Plan
My Aspire Plan (MAP) — Your roadmap to designing your career with purpose
My Aspire Plan (MAP) is your four-year roadmap that guides you through college and helps you prepare for life after graduation. Built to support your journey at Carthage, MAP helps you track your progress, reflect on meaningful experiences, connect your learning to key career competencies, and bridge the gap between classroom knowledge through real-world opportunities and application.
You’ll be introduced to MAP during Firebird Launch, where you’ll learn how it supports your college journey and helps connect your experiences to career readiness. MAP also gives you early access to tools that will help you prepare for your first year at Carthage and start meaningful reflection activities over the summer.
Getting started with MAP
Once you’ve received your full Carthage credentials and can log in to , you’ll have full access to MAP. MAP is hosted on the Suitable app, which makes it easy to track your progress, complete activities, and reflect on your experiences right from your phone or computer. Once logged in, you’ll see your MAP dashboard, where you can begin exploring and completing your first activities.
Start early to make the most of your college journey — even before classes begin!
Career competencies are a set of essential skills and mindsets that prepare students for success in their careers, communities, and lifelong learning. These competencies are integrated throughout the ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ curriculum and in MAP to help students connect their academic, co-curricular, and real-world experiences to meaningful career readiness outcomes.
Rooted in the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) career competencies and aligned with Carthage’s institutional learning outcomes, these competencies provide a framework for personal and professional growth across your college journey. Students will engage with and develop the following key competencies through MAP activities and reflections:
Through MAP, students not only track their engagement but also reflect on how their experiences develop these competencies — equipping them with the tools to thrive in an ever-changing world.
MAP is designed to be completed over the course of your time at Carthage, guiding you through meaningful experiences that support your personal and professional growth. By completing the MAP requirements, you’ll earn the MAP microcredential, which recognizes your development in key career competencies and your intentional engagement in preparing for life after college. Students who complete MAP are honored at graduation with a MAP certificate and gold honor cords.
MAP is made up of a series of MAP badges, offering flexible pathways that align with your unique goals and career interests. Along the way, you’ll have opportunities to earn prizes and gain recognition for your achievements. Below are some examples of badges our students have the opportunity to complete:
First-Year Experience
Welcome to Carthage! As a freshman or Transfer student, there are a bunch of experiences that you should obtain in order to become fully integrated into campus life! Complete this badge in your first semester of your freshman year or first year here at Carthage to achieve first year success and a prize!
Collegiate Student-Athlete
This achievement is designed to help student-athletes recognize and articulate the valuable skills they develop through their athletic experience. As a collegiate athlete, you consistently demonstrate discipline, teamwork, leadership, and resilience—qualities that align directly with the nine career competencies identified by employers nationwide.
Career Exploration
Start building a strong foundation for your future by completing the following exploratory activities. These experiences are designed to help you discover your interests, clarify your goals, and gain insight into potential career paths—all essential steps toward making informed decisions about your academic and professional journey. Through these activities, you’ll begin to understand how your passions, values, and strengths can guide your path forward.
Career Development
Once you’ve completed the foundational steps in your Career Exploration Badge, this achievement encourages you to take the next step: going deeper into your career preparation journey. The Career Development Badge focuses on turning exploration into action by helping you build essential tools, skills, and confidence for your future.
The Aspire Program is dedicated to preparing students for success in life after college by building the nine essential career competencies that today’s employers value most. This advanced Gold Competency Badge challenges you to go beyond the basics and deepen your experience in each area — demonstrating not only understanding, but application and growth.
