Over 230 grade nine students from Campion College attended the Career Day Programme put on by their school.

For the 15th, the guidance department has hosted a day to discuss with parents and highlight to students the options for Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and careers.

Donna Preston, career and college counsellor at Campion College told TEENage why the target was ninth-graders.

“It is very important for the grade nine students to know their options, because after April they choose their subjects for CSEC. For the parents, we want them to laern about the subject selection process, so that they can listen and help their children make the right decisions,” Preston said.

The school’s auditorium was not only packed with students and parents, but with instiututions that could help them with their decisions.

There were booths by: University of Technology Jamaica; University of the West Indies; Northern Caribbean University; St Joseph’s Teachers’ College; Jamaica Fire Brigade; Ian Randle Publishers; All American Institute of Medical Sciences; Victoria Mutaul Building Society (VMBS); Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority; Versan Education Services; Choices Career & Advice and Association of Business Executives.

The students also sat through presentions from Lavare Henry, vice-principal and registrar of Campion College, who spoke of CSEC subject selection; Andrea Dempster-Chung, CEO of Bookophilia and human resources director at Digicel, who spoke on ‘Making The Connection: The U in Future’; Dwayne Smith from VMBS, who spoke to parents about saving for their child’s education; and Jan DeFreita from Choices, who spoke about finding the right career.

After the morning session of presentations, the students returned to their classrooms, which they fashioned for the career options they chose.

They were: medical profession, banking, sports, entertainment, filmaking, animation, design, advertising, marketing and architecture.

One of the presenters, Andrea Dempster-Chung advised the students that though having an idea of what they want to become is good, the subjects they choose now do not have to define their life or career.

“There is no perfect career. What you need is to be flexible because you never know who life and trends might change. In fact, in the next few years there might not be any need for doctors. Always choose to be a leader, because leaders make the difference in all areas,” she said.

— MED