COLLEGE & CAREER DAY
For my senior project I co-coordinated a two part event for my high school. College Day, which is on November 8th, 2018 at The Dalles Readiness Center, and Career Day, which is on March 20th, 2019 at Columbia High School. I worked alongside Kaylene Herman (my mentor), Gregory Haner (fellow senior), the White Salmon Valley Education Foundation, and other members in order to make these days as exciting and informational to students of Columbia High School.
WHY?
In 2015, YouthTruth conducted a College and Career Readiness survey and found that less than half (44%) of students felt positively about their college and career readiness. Hearing this further validated my thought that many students do not always know all their options for the future, especially growing up in a smaller rural community. Personally, I felt clueless my freshman and sophomore year on my road to college. I also felt the pressure to know what occupation to pursue, andI kept thinking what if my future occupation is something I have not thought of yet.
I felt this project will impact so many futures. It will impact the futures of students on how to prepare and where they see themselves in 1, 5, and 10 years from now. Career day will also impact the community and students by creating relationships between community members and students, which hopefully would help jumpstart networking, while also creating unity and a positive environment for all.
For me, this project challenged me by making me step out of my comfort zone by coordinating with people I do not know very well, as well as talking to the school board and getting representatives to present to students. I overcame many challenge through this project that helped me improve my communication skills for the future.
PERSONAL CHALLENGE
Going into this project, I thought my biggest challenge would be communicating those I do not know personally. The fear of putting myself out there was something I was always afraid of. Therefore, this project would make me put myself in those uncomfortable situation, such as communicating with the school board, and improving my communication skills since I will be contacting speakers and working with the staff of CHS to make these days a success.
OUTCOME
In my eyes if there was a large attendance of speakers/presenters and students the day would be a success. I wanted to see relationships being built between the students and professionals.