POINT PLEASANT — Memorial Middle School’s gymnasium turned into an exposition space last week, when eighth-graders explored dozens of future work prospects at the school’s annual Career Day.
The students on Jan. 31 visited some 40 professionals, each of whom were eager to volunteer their time for Career Day and give the students a look into their day-to-day work. Represented careers ran the gamut from commercial aviation, architecture, marine biology and the armed forces to journalism, radio, massage therapy and falconry.
School Counselor Jaylin Burzon, who helps organize Career Day each year, told The Ocean Star a bit about the event and how it works.
“Every year it grows,” Burzon said. “We’re evolving with the times; even through the pandemic, we still had Career Day with masks. It’s always at the end of January, and as soon as it’s over, we prepare all year for the next one.”
“The students get questionnaire packets, and they have to go around and ask vendors specific questions,” she said. “Then they examine up to three businesses with more extensive questions, like ‘What kind of degree did you get?’ or ‘Where did you go to school?’”
Burzon said Career Day is especially helpful to the eighth-graders as they try to nail down which classes they’d like to take in high school.
“This year, we have a lot of new businesses,” she said. “We’re very fortunate to have everyone return that has been coming for all these years. Our vendors make the Career Day what it is. The students really love to meet different people from different careers, while they’re exploring different options for high school classes. They’re starting to realize which things they’re interested in, and how they can find a career that they really like.”
One of these eighth-grade job hunters was Gracie Ryan, who told The Ocean Star that she has been waiting to participate in Career Day since she first enrolled at Memorial.
“I definitely want to see if there’s a lawyer here. I feel like that would be a fun job to do,” said Gracie. “I’m hoping to get a better perspective on what I want to do when I get older, and the different opportunities that are available. I’ve seen the eighth-graders do Career Day since I was in sixth grade — it’s really exciting.”
Eighth-grader Addison Pendino said that she was anticipating speaking to an architect during her time exploring careers.
“I’ve been looking into architecture; I want to be an architect when I’m older,” she said. “I love the building aspect of architecture — I’ve always found it interesting, because my parents built a whole addition to my house. I found the process of building so interesting.”
Another student, Avril Guerrero, said, “I really love learning about careers, getting ideas for what I want to do in the future. I would really love to work with animals or something like that, but I also maybe want to go into teaching. I’m thinking a lot about these things.”
Burzon said that, over the years, Career Day has become a pillar of Memorial Middle School’s eighth-grade experience, with the youngest students looking forward to it for years before the day arrives.
Career Day “is widely loved and well-known by our students,” she said. “It’s a group effort — a lot of people have been involved in setting this up and making it successful every year. We’re really appreciative of everyone that does help out, whether it’s showing up as a vendor or donating.”