Jackie Doherty, Reporter
This year at Career Night, which was held on March 22 from 6:45 to 9:00 at NCHS, students were able to explore a wide range of different careers. Here, students traveled from room to room to listen to panelists talk about many different jobs including finance, fashion and styling, and protective services. There were a total of thirteen rooms and fifty-seven panelists, allowing for students to explore a multitude of interests.
The night began with students gathering in the Wagner Room, where they were able to enjoy a snack table and socialize with one another. Here, they signed in and were given a pamphlet describing what all the different rooms had to offer. They were able to circle which rooms they would visit that night, making it easy for students to navigate the event.
Students were able to visit two rooms during the night. According to a survey students were encouraged to fill out after attending, they reported that the most popular panel was finance, followed by engineering, followed by medicine and healthcare.
In between the two panels students attended, there was a fifteen minute break where students socialized in the hallway, got snacks from the snack table, and even asked some one-on-one questions to panelists they found interesting. According to Susan Carroll, the current Career Center Coordinator at NCHS and the founder of Career Night back in 2001, “The kids were great, many of them came and reached out, wanting to get information to contact some of the presenters which I thought was really good.”
Students also said that they found the event informative. Sophomore Lachlan Ivaneza, visited the finance room, where he learned a lot about the career. “It seems like a fun and supporting career with most people trying to help you,” he said.
In addition, Junior Elizabeth McLaughlin visited the business management room. When asked what she learned, she mentioned the importance of being open and curious. Many other students also learned vital career advice at the event.
At the end of each panel, students asked questions to panelists. “When I walked around, I didn’t see too many rooms where people were just with their hands folded on their desk and not attentive to the speakers, there seemed to be a really good give and take,” Ms. Carroll said.
However, what may have been the most popular part of the night were the two snack tables that were set up, one in the Wagner room for before the event started, and one in the hallway where students could pick up tasty treats while traveling between panels. According to Ms. Carroll, “Next time we need to have more snacks, especially because kids were coming right off the lacrosse field or the tennis court.”
Career Night was planned by the PFA this year, and this was led by Ellen Cummings. “I hope students become informed and discover careers they never even knew of,” Ms. Cummings said. “It took lots of planning to bring in panelists from all different areas of work. We have a really impressive roster of panelists set up, I think there is going to be a lot of different careers.”
This year, around three hundred fifty students attended Career Night. There was an unexpected amount of underclassmen who attended, with sixteen percent of attendees being freshmen and thirty percent being sophomores. “It was interesting to see the large amount of underclassmen who came, and there were a fair amount of sophomores which was really wonderful,” Ms. Carroll said. However, the grade with the biggest turnout was juniors, with a total of thirty two percent. Ms. Carroll predicts there will be even more students in 2025, when the next event will be held.
Career Night proved to be a successful event this year. Ms. Carroll said, “It was thrilling to see that there were alums represented on the panels, and also students’ parents. It was fun to see all the different careers represented.”
