As we all know, on February 12, 2020, Carnegie Vanguard High School had kids swarming in and out of their SSEP’s, running down the halls, and rushing into rooms that they signed up for during Career Day: an event held at CVHS which brought professionals to the school to speak about their job.

All students of CVHS signed up for two college/career sessions during SSEP to learn about the jobs they want to pursue in the future. The professionals then spoke of what they do, their experiences, how their job works, and the money that applies to the job.

From classroom to classroom, multiple students who were attentive and visibly learning from the professional during their session. Career Day was solely meant to give students options and opportunities of what to be when they are older.

Jesus Mayen, a junior at CVHS, is an example of someone that benefitted from Career Day. Mayen chose the Architecture and the Real Estate Marketing sessions, which were both careers that he is interested in going into and Career Day offered him answers to questions and realities for his career choices.

“I was kind of unprepared on what to do after high school,” said Mayen. “It definitely gave me a push start into planning out my future and I definitely do want to pursue it. I learned a lot from the architecture session and it still pushes me to want to pursue it…the person who came talked about it and helped a lot.”

Caroline Pace is another junior who benefitted from Career Day. Pace chose the House Lawyer and the Intellectual Property Attorney sessions. Like Mayen, she was uncertain of her career as well. But, Career Day allowed her to solidify her choice and keep in contact with people who can provide advice.

“You have to try a lot of different things post-college and post-grad and that the path that you originally go on in college and even with your job isn’t going to be right,” said Pace. “I think that’s something that I gained from hearing both lawyers speak is that initially what they wanted to do was not what they ended up doing and how they’re happy in their careers now.”

“I was kind of wary of going to law school because obviously it’s so hard, but seeing real lawyers and seeing how they actually did it and that it’s something that is absolutely doable for me really solidified my choice on becoming a lawyer.”

Career Day previewed about 41 careers for students to choose from, and students were able to choose two. This limited the number of jobs a student can learn about in order for them to get the most out of Career Day. However, students acknowledged this fact and offered suggestions to solve this problem in the future.

“It should’ve been more like a career fair than just two sessions because, especially in high school, you really need to start narrowing down your options. To only have two options just to start with is really tough. So if they have a fair, you can go around and ask questions from tons of different people. Then it’s a lot easier to see a general field and to start narrowing down,” said Jenny Mackenzie, a sophomore at CVHS.

Juniors and seniors are always thinking about college and careers during their years in high school. They need the most influence from all the jobs they can experience to be able to make the choice that would lead the rest of their lives. Career Day had the potential of completing this achievement. Some students provided solutions for this issue so that later students can get the most out of Career Day.

“I would appreciate it if there was also some more focus on the juniors and seniors in terms of more broad topics, and they took the juniors and the seniors and they put them in the auditorium,” said Pace “and we had them just come to talk to us so we can hear about more than two jobs. So if I was interested in becoming a lawyer, but I also wanted to hear about journalism or marketing or something, I wouldn’t have to only pick two I could hear about multiple and I think if they had all of them come to talk to the juniors and the seniors as a whole. I think that would be really great for helping people decide what career path they want to go and do if they have no idea.”

Career Day overall showed effective results throughout the school. Students who are serious in school seemed to be interested and inspired by the speakers to excel in their choice of career. It’s safe to say that Career Day was beneficial for students and has lots of potential for the next upcoming years.

“You have to choose something at least in the field that you love or are interested in because I guess that’s what you’re going to end up doing. I don’t know, that’s my biggest takeaway just love what you do in my opinion. Go for it,” said a junior, Emily DeLeon.