Career is a word that comes to mind when the future is brought up. Many ponder the enormity of choices put before them for possible occupations. To shed some light on professions that students could pursue in the future, FC hosted Career Day, March 28.

Assistant Academic Advisor Michelle Warkentin organized the event in hopes of educating students on future professions they might be interested in. Warkentin arranged for most of the speakers to be alumni to give the students a little more enthusiasm about Career Day.

Throughout the event three different sessions were held with four speakers, all but one FC alumni, in each session. The students chose which of the four lecturers they wanted to hear, typically by which occupation the speaker was in.

Session 1

Police Sergeant Paul Brown, Dairy Manager Charlie DeGroot, Assistant Director of Nursing Donna Small and Photographer Kori (Johns) Friesen all spoke about their professions and the preparation that students could take in anticipation of these career.

Brown, ’83, spoke to students. about the real life experience that will come with going into law enforcement. Brown hoped to give the students a better understanding of the police force instead of the misconceptions they see on TV.

“It’s always good to give people an idea of what professions are really like,” Brown said. “In my speech I tried to give the students a better understanding of the work that has to be put in to become a police officer. I encourage the students to stay focused in school because it will really benefit them later on. A lot of people get washed out of police academies because their work ethic isn’t as strong as it should be. High school is a great place to learn how to persevere through tough work.”

Senior Josh Grinage aspires to enlist in the Marines after attending college. After Grinage serves his time in the Marines, he is aiming to go into law enforcement. Not knowing exactly what to expect in that particular field, he hoped to learn a lot from Career Day.

“After the Marines, I want to go into law enforcement,” Grinage said. “I want to know more about the income, hours and commitment it takes to be in that field. I just hope I’m prepared for what the future has in store for me.”

Session 2

The four speakers at Session 2 were Attorney Jessica Giannetta, Director of Sports Medicine at Fresno Pacific University Betsy (Shivers) Meyers, Chef/Social Media Director Delaney Boling and FC Athletic Supervisor Dan Stockton.

Delaney Boling, ’94, chose to take an unconventional approach to which career path he took. Being both a chef and media director, Boling knows a bit about how to juggle a workload. Both occupations also allow him to have an inventive outlook on expressions of life.

“I hoped to show the students a creative outlet,” Boling said. “Advertising isn’t exactly one of the markets everyone thinks of. Most people don’t grow up saying they want to be an advertiser, so to be able to come and share with the students what the job really requires was rewarding. I hope the kids see this as a different creative avenue they can take with their lives.”

Kenna Wheeler, ’12, was interested in Boling’s explanation of what his job is truly like. Not knowing what to expect with Boling having two professions, she was pleasantly surprised at how much he seems to enjoy them.

“I was thoroughly interested in what he had to say,” Wheeler said. “Although the fact that he couldn’t do the presentation how he was planning because Facebook was blocked on our internet, he seemed to improvise very well. He seemed to have a fascinating life, with having two jobs and all. However, I could never see myself doing something like that because I don’t have the skill set.”

Session 3

Marriage and Family Therapist Gina (Bradford) Ornelas, Senior Vice President for Bank of America Kevin Douty, Opthalmologist Samuel Hinton and Cosmetologist Olivia Franklin were the four guest speakers in Session 3.

Ornelas, ’99, is a marriage and family therapist came to teach students what a therapist does and how students can prepare beforehand. Not having a career day to teach her about different professions, Ornelas was very excited to educate the kids on therapy.

“I tried to give the kids a better understanding of what it’s like to be a therapist,” Ornelas said. “Sometimes it can be a little hectic because the patient might get mad at you or could possibly threaten you but the key is to remain calm. Listening is a huge part of the process. You have to be able to take yourself out of the equation and really tune in to what the patients are saying and feeling. Just by listening to people more you can prepare yourself for this job.”

Sophomore Hannah Avila was excited that there was a speaker on a possible occupation she would like to do in the future. Finding the speech very informational, Avila now hopes that she can focus on what she needs to accomplish to prepare herself for the upcoming years.

“I really liked how she explained what her day to day routine was like,” Avila said. “She told us exactly what it would be like and what we could do to prepare for a job as a therapist. I really like this line of work because I am more of a listener than a talker so I think this profession would suit me.”

Warkentin believes that Career Day was a great success. She remains enthusiastic about the upcoming years, hoping to host a career day every spring. She enjoyed the variety of speakers at the event, but hopes to get a new batch of people next year, to accomodate the needs of some students who might not have seen their choice of profession at the event.

“Hopefully we can get a different range of speakers next year,” Warkentin said. “The speakers this time were great and I would be happy to bring them back but I am going to take the students comments into consideration and see which other occupations they would like to see here. The purpose of Career Day was to inform the students on how many different options they had and let them know that high school is a huge part of their future. I think this event was extremely successful and I look forward to continuing the tradition next year.”

For more features, read the March 26 article, College culture: Eyes on the juniors.