College day was held at LCHS on Sept. 25, to allow Grade 11 and 12 students to get a head start on future career plans. Jeannette Benoit-Leipert Meridian Source
LCHS students got a glimpse of future possibilities during college day.
School guidance counsellor, Kaylin Britton, said the day is all about students getting prepared and motivated for their potential careers.
“We have colleges and universities, some tech schools as well as a lot of trades. We have RCMP, and we have military here as well. We try to have a little bit for everybody,” said Britton, adding that the goal of the event is to get students thinking about what’s next.
This year’s event was held on Sept. 25 for Grade 11 and 12 students.
“The Grade 11s, our goal is just to inspire them to start thinking about it because they really only have until about March to think about what type of career they want, so they can pick the right classes for Grade 12,” said Britton.
“We hope that this is a moment for a lot of our Grade 11s to realize that high school—the end of it is on the horizon, and this is a time for them to buckle down and make some decisions, and really transition into adulthood.”
She said most of the LCHS Grade 12 students have decided on a path after high school and are currently working on pre-requisite classes, as they approach application season.
“Our Grade 12s, they’ll start applying for universities next week. Colleges usually open their applications on Oct. 1, so most of our Grade 12s already know what they’re going to do.”
That is true for Grade 12 students Colby Down and Brietta Resch, who attended college day, but already have a specific plan for their futures.
“Right now I’m looking at going into nursing. I came down here to get a few forms. I’m going to start at Lakeland, I want to get my pre-requisites done and then I’ll transfer over to the U of S,” said Down.
Resch also has a clear path but she was happy to learn something new on college day after speaking with a representative from the Canadian Forces.
“I’m looking to be a cabin crew flight attendant, which isn’t something that includes much schooling, but here I actually learned that I can get helpful pre-requisites from the military—joining the Air Force and learning things from there can really help me with getting in somewhere like Air Canada,” said Resch.
“It just looks better when you have something like that on your resume.”
One of the biggest advantages of attending the event is that the students get to speak with representatives from each institution, to learn exactly what is being offered.
“Every one of our institutions and organizations here, they have promotional materials, all about their programs and what they offer. Kids are encouraged to go up and ask questions, take that information back to their families,” said Britton.
“A lot of our booths also have representatives who are students at those institutions, and so they get to talk to them about their first-hand experience about what it’s like to attend that institution. That’s a lot more than I can offer as a guidance counsellor,” she said.
