On Wednesday, sophomores attended a career talk event at school during first period. For the event, students could choose which field category they wanted to explore by going to designated classrooms for those fields.
In these rooms, parent volunteers gathered to give talks about their own careers—representing a vast range of fields such as architecture, health, digital technology and law. Discussions included the scope of their jobs, how they reached their current positions and advice they had for students interested in those fields.
“I learned about the steps I have to take to get into the field that I want to study,” sophomore Madison Regulski said. “I [was] excited to learn about the job opportunities I can possibly hold in the future.”
Many students looked forward to the career event because such activities provide increased exposure to available career paths as well as opportunities to explore previously unknown jobs.
“[Career day] will teach me things that I actually want to do,” Regulski said before the event. “Maybe I [will find out that I] don’t like marketing [or] I find a doctor [at career day] and I’m like, ‘yes, I want to do brain surgeries.’”
The career panelists mirrored the students’ excitement. Amy Ovuka, the Chief Financial Officer for Medicaid at Aetna Health Insurance, was one of the speakers in the business classroom.
“One of the reasons I came here today was to demonstrate to females that they can also have careers in STEM,” Ovuka said. “I noticed in both sessions that only 20% of the [students] who came here were female.”
On the other hand, some of the career panelists were worried beforehand that students would not be actively engaged in the talks, but ended up surprised with how interactive the students were. Students frequently asked questions about what to study in college, how to decide on a career path and the importance of mentors.
“I thought the students asked really good questions,” Ovuka said. “I was a little bit afraid that [students] would think it was boring, but everyone asked really engaging questions.”
Batul Razvi, an anesthesiologist, has participated in career exploration events for years at Longfellow Middle School.
“I just find joy in explaining to kids about my profession and inspiring them in different ways,” Razvi said. “So, [I’m] happy to be here and answer questions.”
Ultimately, the professionals hoped that students would take advantage of the opportunity.
“It would be helpful just to know, for any student, the broad careers that are out there,” Ovuka said. “There are so many wonderful parents [with a variety of] careers in this area that [allows] students [to broaden their] perspective.”
