What do you want to be when you grow up? This is a question sophomores and juniors can start answering during Career Day on Wednesday, April 7th.
Career Day at Jesuit is an opportunity for students to explore many different careers, learning about them from professionals in various fields.
Sophomore Vianna Mai is happy to have the opportunity to attend Career Day.
“I think it’s a good opportunity to learn about what you want to major in,” Mai said.
Career Day started back in 2009 and has evolved since. It was started at Jesuit to help students figure out what they wanted to do after college, and has brought alums back to help these students by sharing their stories and experiences.
Ms. Kathy Baarts, the Director of Alumni Relations, has helped lead the effort in planning and organizing the event.
“Career Day is a collaboration between the counseling department and alumni to bring awareness of the different careers that are available in the world after graduation,” Ms. Baarts said.
The featured careers have been chosen in multiple ways.
“So with our original careers, we kind of looked at where most people were going for college and what majors people were interested in, so the medicines, engineering, tech, business, communications, so we tried to fill all of those. And then as alums have come and said, You know, I do this and it's sometimes a unique and different career, and then other times, I survey our sophomores and juniors afterwards, and oftentimes they'll have feedback on things that they've seen or something that they're interested in, or a new trend in a career and that has come up, so we try to add those in as well,” Ms. Baarts said.
Junior class president Nathan Bui is excited for Career Day as he remembers what last year was like.
“It's actually really fun. I remember last year we got to hear from adults about their profession. And honestly it's actually pretty insightful. You gain a lot of knowledge about that specific career,” Bui said.
Career Day is important to Jesuit for both students and alumni.
“We started [Career Day] to provide an opportunity for students to hear from alums and community members on their different experiences in the industries. But we also did it to create another touch point for our alums. It's also a great day for them all to get together. Connections, whether you're a student or an alum or community member, are always so important to foster your next journeys and chapters in the world,” Ms. Baarts said.
The returning alumni provide key insight into their own jobs that help students figure out what they want to do.
“The people presenting are really helpful. I feel like as teenagers right now and soon to be graduating high school we don't really know what profession we want to do. And [Career Day is] honestly clearing and clarifying for our interest and stuff like that,” Bui said.
Joselynn Pham, a sophomore, is excited to attend Career Day and learn from professionals in fields she’s curious about.
“I'm looking forward to learning about the fields I'm interested in. I'm interested in medicine and dentistry, so I want to learn more about them,” Pham said.
Ms. Baarts has received lots of feedback over the years from alums highlighting Career Day’s importance.
“I've gone to our regional gatherings, I've had many people come up and say, I spoke with so and so when I was at Career Day, he gave me an internship, or I became a teacher, because I heard the speaker at Career Day. So there are those moments where the impact of the presenter has really changed, either a student's course or provided them with an opportunity to further their exploration, internship opportunities, or career opportunities after,” she said.
Career Day has become an important part of Jesuit’s culture and education, providing students with a myriad of opportunities to learn what they want to do after college.
