Is career day worth it?

On Thursday March 7, all juniors spent first through fourth period participating in Career Day, where students go from class to class talking to individuals who work in certain fields that a student may be interested in. The individuals speaking are experienced in their work and are very passionate about their job. They attempt to inform students about how great their field of work is. Career Day in my opinion, was good. Not great, just good. I was expecting to speak to individuals who could tell me about their job and explain how I could get a job like theirs. I was expecting strategies and advice on what to do to succeed in a job field like theirs. What I got was more of an encouragement session. I learned all about how I need to get myself out there, be assertive and active and passionate, but I was not told how. I heard things like, “you need to love what you do” and “make sure you get to know people,” but I was still left with questions on the process. Don’t get me wrong, all that was told to me by the guests was very valuable information, and it was something I needed to be told and I think that others need to be told this as well. Learning to be assertive and to go after the things you like is the first step to succeeding in the pursuit of your desired career. But the expectations going in to the day were different from what I recieved. There are two sides of the spectrum. Some students really need some inspiration, and some need the hard facts. I feel like career day needed more of the facts. There are only so many times you can hear an inspirational speech before you can’t be any more inspired, but there is always room for more information. I understand that this may be asking a little much from visitors, but I feel like more of a science fair or college fair type of style would work better for career day. You would be able to walk around and see little presentations about a certain job and be able to ask questions one on one with a professional and get more personalized answers.  So was the day worth it? Yes. Did I get what I was expecting? Not really, but what I did get was helpful, and I feel like this day is a good thing to have for future classes, just with some modifications. It was insightful and it was good to talk to people who work in different fields. Even though I heard a lot of the same from each person, the thought was solidified. Now that we have heard from people who made it, we know that we can do it too. It is advertised as a day to find out what you want to do, but I feel like the true purpose is to show young kids that they can make it, they just need some inspiration.