(upbeat music) - How optimistic are you about your future in general, and how optimistic do you think your peers are?

We'll start with you.

- Well, I would definitely say I was not as optimistic as I am now my senior year of high school.

I was leaving and I knew there was somewhere to go, but I didn't know if I wanted to be there.

But I went knowing that I had experience in that area already and I- - You're going into arts?

- Yes, going into illustration and fine arts.

But now that I'm engaging and experiencing at a more professional level, I feel as though this is something I would like to pursue.

I do see myself doing this in the future, and I am pretty optimistic of what holds ahead of me.

- [Will] Cool, what about you, Sam?

- Personally like, the future looks pretty optimistic to me.

I know a lot of my friends, they also probably feel optimistic.

We're all going into good universities or like, going into a job or taking a gap year and have a goal for that gap year like, wanna do entrepreneuring.

Like, everybody's doing their own thing.

Like, everybody's like we're done with high school.

Let's move on to the future so it's really, I don't know, everybody seems happy around.

- What about you?

- I personally know with the path that I have taken I do feel very hopeful just 'cause there is a large need for trades.

However, I know a lot of my friends that are still in university, they are a little bit fearful just 'cause they're not sure what they wanna do, and it's hard when you're already going for one thing to then figure out what it is you wanna do from there.

- In your K-12 education, have you had any courses that were geared specifically toward you experiencing, learning about, or making any sort of decisions, or aiming you towards any sort of career pathways or anything like that?

Kendall, we'll start with you.

- I went to a private school for high school, and there weren't really any options given to us for trades.

It was mainly pushed to do something whether it was a science, politics, medical.

- [Will] Sam?

- I mean, at least at my school, it's like freshman year and then you get to do a choose your adventure kind of thing.

So there's like a engineering type area like, that you can choose to go into that and like, a bunch of engineering classes open it up.

Even if you're in engineering, you could take like medical classes but like, you get priority in engineering.

- What about you?

- I feel like there's not many opportunities unless we ask for it.

I'm really glad that so many people are asking now because a lot of people in this generation don't really speak up for exactly what they want.

- Do you think that the guidance that you guys are getting is applicable to the world that you're going into?

Sam, let's start with you.

- I mean, yes, whenever, like an adult says, for example, they would say like their exact experience and then you take it with like a grain of salt 'cause then, you know, it's like different times now.

- Same thing, grain of salt with everybody else's opinions.

I do think that there is a little bit of a lack of understanding of what it is actually like to be in Gen Z per se navigating the world 'cause it is changing.

There's a lot of things that aren't the same anymore.

Whether it be, you know, money, or buying houses, and things of that nature.

It's much harder and I think that, you know, older generations really aren't equipped 'cause we don't know where it's progressing.

- I usually when people give me advice on where to go, I usually don't take it to heart unless they have some experience in that field.

And even then, I still don't, you know, hold it down in stone.

- Are you guys planning on staying in Michigan once you've graduated?

I see you smiling already so that doesn't bode well.

And are your peers going to be staying here?

What are the conversations that you guys are hearing amongst your friends?

- Unless you guys can like bend the climate to be a little more warm.

(laughs) Like, I don't think I can stand any more six month winters after I finish college.

- That's fair.

- Yeah, but everything here is perfectly fine.

I think some of my peers are going to stay, but me, I'm not sure I could stay.

- Sam, what about you?

Because Michigan, obviously we are, the engineering is something that we do better than a lot of people in the world.

I'm just putting that out there.

- [Samantha] I know.

- What is your thought about?

- I'm definitely gonna stay here in Michigan.

Like you said like, Michigan's like, so great for engineering.

So why would I leave?

I don't know.

I'm gonna stay, but my friends definitely want to leave.

Again, it's out of anybody's control.

It's the weather.

(laughs) - Is it really, Kendall, well, you're next.

Is it really the weather?

- Yes.

- There's snow in New York, California's on fire half the time.

- I definitely have to go somewhere like, in the middle or in the south.

I cannot stay up here.

- Okay, Kendall, are you staying here?

- No.

(audience laughs) (Will laughs) - The matter-of-factness.

So why not?

- There's a lot of reasons.

I feel like it's just 'cause I grew up here, I wanna see something different, experience kind of my own story, and not just everything I've been around my entire life.

And as for my friends, they've either already left Michigan or they are leaving.