Semi-Annual Career Day at Weston High School

I can barely contain my excitement, really. 

Career Day at brings so much joy to me, not because it's a day away from homework, tests, and quizzes, but because it's a day full of interviews and presentations from people in the so called 'real world' that typical high schoolers loose taste of in the insipid high school air they breathe nearly every day.

We seniors are lucky, however, because we get to break loose earlier than the rest and get a one-on-one experience in this far-off-real-world universe for a few weeks in late spring. On our internships, which are starting to piece together for many of the students, we have the opportunity to learn in a new setting and in a field of choice. I look forward to whatever I end up doing in hopes that it will transition well into my other future plans. Stay tuned ;)

Lee Marsh, the Career Day Chair and Senior Internship Adviser, has been working endlessly to put together a great day for us, and as I said before, I really am looking forward to it. Career Day this year will bring in over 135 speakers "whose careers include the arts, business ownership, education, engineering, environment, hospitality, law, media, medical research, medicine, non-profits, politics, science, and sports," says Marsh.

The morning begins with an all-school assembly featuring the four following speakers:William C. Symonds, director of the Pathways to Prosperity Project; Mariama White-Hammond (the keynote speaker whom I am honored to introduce on stage), the executive director of Project HIP-HOP; Joelle Lurie, a professional singer; and finally William Townsend, a robotic engineer. This year will also be the first year that WHS has a female keynote speaker. 

Following the assembly, each student is given the chance to meet with three speakers from the list we were given in homeroom a few weeks ago. In the packet that Mrs. Marsh worked hard to put together, there are descriptions about the interesting lives and occupations of everyone whom we are fortunate to invite into our school. I am being 100 percent honest when I say narrowing down my choices was the hardest decision I made that week. There was so much variety and so many great presenters! 

I will not know the speakers I will be seeing until the morning of Career Day because students are assigned by a lottery. This I assume is because we have people like the highly acclaimed magician, David Hall. I can bet at least half the student body signed up for his performance. 

Also in the mix, I am proud to announce, will be both my mother and my brother, T.K. Mrs. Marsh reminds me that although many of the students' parents will be coming this will be the first year it's a son-mother combination. (Especially when that son is her former student.) I'll be speaking as well, when I introduce Ms. Hammond-White. So I guess it's all in the family! :)

Why I love Career Day is because it's extremely eye-opening. "[Students] should consider this day a time to learn more about which courses you should be taking in high school and college to prepare you for a particular career," says Marsh. For seniors and juniors who will have their last Career Day today, Wednesday March 7, Career Day is a day "to identify possible internships you would enjoy."

I cannot wait to see all the incredible performances and enlightening presentations.