By Jackie Doherty, Reporter
Stay tuned for updates as the PFA releases more information leading up to the event
For the first time in four years, NCHS will host Career Night on March 22, from 6:45 to 9:00pm. Students will be able to travel from room to room and listen to guest speakers talk about a wide range of careers. Topics featured this year include marketing, finance, law, and entertainment.
Career Night is a biannual event that last took place in 2019, after being canceled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event is intended to help students explore possible job interests and ask questions to panelists who have firsthand experience in their fields.
According to the PFA website, doors open at 6:45, and students will be able to listen to two guest speakers during forty-five minute sessions from 7:00 to 7:45, and 8:00 to 8:45. This is followed by a final Q&A session, and the event is wrapped up at 9:00.
Career Center Coordinator Susan Carroll founded Career Night back in 2000, when she was President of the PFA. “I hope students bring questions and maybe can see themselves in some of these jobs in the near future,” she said. “I think that if they meet people at different parts in their career or journey, students can really understand whether or not they would like to pursue that career, and if not, at least have respect for the amazing abilities that are out there.”
In past years, Career Night panelists have talked about how they were able to pursue new careers, despite not originally planning to. “I think my favorite moments are the lightbulb moments when someone who might be big in the world of finance says they were a religion major,” Ms. Carroll said. “Kids get to see different ways of coming through not just education, but also life experience to their careers.”
Because of the careful planning of the PFA, Career Night has been able to draw students in for years. “I’m so grateful to the parent volunteers who organize this whole experience because it’s the reason we do it every other year; it’s not an easy undertaking,” Ms. Carroll said. “You don’t want to have duplications of careers, but you do want to have people in the beginning of their careers, in the middle of their careers, and at the top of their careers.” As the event draws closer, more information including the list of guest panelists will be posted on the PFA website: https://www.nchs-pfa.org/careernight2023.
