As the school year comes to a close the John Marshall High Career Fair can be expected to visit on the last day of school. The event will be held on Tuesday, June 10th from 10:30-12:30 in the boys and girls gym. After talking with these are the people and jobs that can be expected to drop by. There will be individuals in fields such as TV, film, theatre, music, business, banking, social work, psychology, health, medicine, law, science, engineering, architecture, education, unions, trades, and writers to name a few. Most of the participants attending are on the graphic et the end of this article, but some new people will be joining as well.
Susan Philips, founder of College Path LA , and the organizer of the event, had this to say when asked about the event’s purpose. “The main point of College Path LA has been to help prepare kids, specifically those at Marshall for their futures. This started by helping them prepare for college as we provide assistance to students on their college essays after school. We would expand further by having people come into the classrooms and speak on their work experience in the hopes of inspiring these students to have at least an idea of what they want to do after college and preparing those who already know what they want to do. This would end up evolving into the career fair of today, where one hundred plus volunteers can come to Marshall and tell their own stories and work experience.”
The participants that would be attending the fair are mainly local individuals, be it people with direct ties to Marshall or in the proximity of it. For example, some notable figures attending would be Mark LaBonge (former councilman and Marshall alumnae Tom LaBonge’s brother) as he speaks on operating a camera on set. Two architects from Bestor Architects, a local firm, will speak on their experiences in architecture. Many Marshall alumni will be attending as well, such as Mayan Alvarado-Goldberg who is currently working towards a master in public health and will be speaking on women’s reproductive rights. Andy Zavala, also a Marshall alumnae will be speaking on a career in mechanical engineering.
Many participants in the career day are related to Marshall personally, being parents, siblings or past attendees, and are all volunteers with close ties to the school as a way of giving back to their community.
Many students can be expected to find opportunities for volunteering or internships. Philips wanted to highlight how those already having specific interests in a field should prepare questions beforehand. She understands how difficult it is to find openings or attain connections in certain fields and encourages students to go looking for these opportunities and search for the volunteers that may speak best in their field of interest. “We are first and foremost helping students make connections” Philips would say, “This event can be a breakthrough that some may need to get the proper connections for their goals.”
