# Module 8 — The Verdict

> **App quests:** 💭 The 40-Year Question · ❓ Cost vs Salary Quiz · ⚖️ Deliver Your Verdict
> **Time:** 60 min · **Worksheet:** Decision Matrix (finalize)

## The big idea

Everything so far was evidence-gathering. Now you decide — not forever, but for now — with reasons you can defend to a parent, a counselor, or your future self.

## Why it matters

A decision made *on purpose*, with experience and numbers behind it, is the entire point of this course. Even a "pass" is a win: you just saved yourself years and dollars by finding out before you paid.

## Do this in the app

1. **💭 The 40-Year Question** — imagine doing this job most days for decades. Write your honest answer.
2. **❓ Cost vs Salary Quiz** — prove you understand the money behind the path. (Pass 2 of 3.)
3. **⚖️ Deliver Your Verdict** — choose **Pursue**, **Maybe**, or **Pass**, and write one sentence on why. Completing all three earns the **⚖️ Truth Seeker** badge, and finishing every quest for a career earns the **🎓 Graduate** badge.

## Build Plan A, B, and C

Don't bet everything on one outcome. Strong plans have backups:

- **Plan A** — your top career and the smartest road in (from your Decision Matrix).
- **Plan B** — a second career you explored that also scored well.
- **Plan C** — a flexible fallback (often a cheaper, shorter path that keeps doors open).

For each, write: the career, the road in, the rough cost, and the first concrete step you can take in the next 30 days.

## Revisit Module 1

Pull out your Module 1 reflection. Can you now confidently finish the sentence you started? Compare your before-and-after. That shift *is* the result of the course.

## Final deliverable

A one-page **Career Plan** with Plan A/B/C, each backed by: a day-in-the-life you've read, a real person you contacted (or tried to), the ROI math, and a clear reason. That's a decision worth four years.