Cool Careers, Potential Paths: Igniting Students’ Curiosity with Early Career Awareness
Building upon the success of our Cool Careers, Potential Paths programming last fall, volunteers joined us this spring to share their career journeys with our students! Career exploration is important for broadening students’ exposure to different industries at an earlier age. Getting to know adults in a variety of jobs and leadership roles can help inform our students’ sense of possibility and plant the seeds for future educational and professional choices.
Cool Careers, Potential Paths
The buzz of energy from students fueled our volunteers during the morning panel sessions and small group discussions. From software engineering at EPAM to client management at TikTok, to environmental stewardship at New York Botanical Garden, volunteers shared a wealth of life experiences that led to their current roles. Students asked questions ranging from “What does a typical day in your job look like?” to “Do you get paid more working in certain neighborhoods or cities?”
One volunteer, Dr. Marie-Paule Dupiton, spoke about immigrating from Haiti to start her education anew and opening her pediatric practice, CamKids. “There are many pathways in medicine even if you don’t see patients. We need scientists, researchers, medical technology inventors. If you find your passion, you will find a way to get there.”
Benefits of Early Career Awareness
Early career exploration offers students exposure to job sectors and networks of professionals they may not otherwise encounter. Research from education newsroom The Hechinger Report shows “roughly two-thirds of high school graduates said they would have benefited from more career exploration in middle or high school.” Hosting Cool Careers, Potential Paths for our students gives them time to pursue classes and activities to further those interests–or to change their minds.
Dr. Dupiton’s daughter Arielle also volunteered and talked about studying journalism in college. “About ten years ago I was in your shoes, applying to college and thinking about what I wanted to study,” said Arielle. “I started as a news reporter, then during the pandemic I helped my mother manage the business side of her practice. I continue to challenge myself and develop skills in social media content creation on the side.”
We are grateful to all of our volunteers for sharing their time and expertise at TYWLS Brooklyn, TYWLS Bronx, and TYWLS Queens. Your commitment to our students helps advance educational equity both within and outside of the classroom. Thank you!
Many thanks to our supporters who make the Cool Careers, Potential Paths series possible, including Apollo Opportunity Foundation, Estée Lauder Companies, Nike, Royal Bank of Canada, News Corp, Con Edison, Costco, Deutsche Bank, Intercos, Sony, Aerie, and Steve Madden.
Interested in sharing your career path with our students? Sign up for events in Astoria, Manhattan, and Staten Island this Spring!
