POST OFFERS ITS MEMBERS A CHANCE TO DECIDE WHETHER THEY LIKE, OR DON'T LIKE WORKING AS COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS.

What is one fun way to decide what your college major should be? In Indianapolis, one alternative is to become involved in an Explorer post, an organization that focuses on teens' interests in certain career areas, such as engineering, cosmetology or accounting.

The posts are a branch of the Boy Scouts of America, but one major difference between the two groups is that the Explorer posts are coed. Children's Express got a chance to speak to members and advisers of the computer programming post at Eli Lilly and Co.

One obvious advantage of being involved in the post is that it gives members a chance to learn about computers and get hands-on experience with new, up-to-date software. They also have group discussions about careers involving computers.

Equally important to some of the approximately 85 members is that the post gives them the opportunity to meet and socialize with new people from different schools.

Reasons for joining

"The reason why I'm interested is because I love to talk," said LaJoy Andrews, 17. "I have learned a lot that I did not know about computers, and I have learned a lot more about different people, especially teen-agers."

"I'm always looking for something new to do," agreed King Tawiha, 17, the post vice president for administration. "Teen- agers get into a lot of stuff, sometimes bad. This one's good, that's why I'm interested."

Although education plays a role at the post, which meets two to three times a month at Lilly headquarters, the teens stress that they also have a lot of fun. They take occasional field trips to places like Kings Island near Cincinnati or have pizza parties.

Sometimes the post holds fund-raisers such as car washes to raise money for major out-of-state trips, although it receives partial funding from Lilly.

But the post's main goal is getting its members to enroll in college, according to Shelley Padgett, a computer systems analyst at Lilly who also helps coordinate the meetings and recruit advisers for the three Explorer posts at the company.

"One of the effects that we have is that we have really been able to show them that by going to college they can get a much better career when they are out of school," she said.

Another goal is to prevent teens from choosing the wrong major once they are in college.

"People say they are interested in computers when they are in high school, then they get involved in our post and they find out they hate them," Padgett explained. "That's good because then they won't go to school and major in (computers) for two years and switch their major."

Enhancing interest

It appears that the post has raised interest in computers. Of the four teens interviewed by Children's Express, all said they thought that the knowledge they gained at the post will help them in their careers.

"Since I am looking at the medical field, I know computers are used a lot in that, so this Explorer group really helps me," King said.

"I'm more or less leaning towards computer maintenance as a technician, in the technical field," said Harold Whitney, 17, post president.

"I plan on doing some type of computer work, either technician or programming," said LaJoy. "But I also plan to be a lawyer, so I plan to be very energetic."

Post adviser Cheryl Stoy, a computer systems support analyst at Lilly, enjoys her work with teens. "This is a neat age group to work with. They're very responsive and they're a lot of fun," she said.

She and the teens seem to agree on the post's goals. "We want the students to walk away with something really enriching . . . especially knowing whether or not they want to continue with computing," she explained.

"The other thing we want them to experience is a different kind of socialization they may not get in school, day to day."