Career Fair

This event is worthy of its own blog entry. At the beginning of July I met with the supervisor, the woman in charge of the schools I work with, to start planning the Career Fair. We exchanged ideas, shared contacts, and began planning the event.

We invited approximately 300 people- 20 professionals, 15 high school directors, 85 students (from five different places where I work- Colegio Renacimiento, Telesecundaria, Chuchucá, Amigos de Patzún, and the orphanage), all of the parents of the students, and 25 other special invites. Patzún has a very formal and specific method as far as soliciting people to an event. AFTER we delivered the invitations, obstacle 1- one of the directors from my school informed me that we would no longer be able to use the school for the event. So, we re-did and changed all of the invitations.

I'll skip the rest of the planning details. I’d love to just copy and paste the program and agenda, but it’s in Spanish…duh. Confession: my English has worsened (is that even a word), I can’t think of words in English and frequently misspell words. Thanks for your patience. Back on track-

Before the event, in the classrooms, with the five different groups I mentioned and with the collaboration of a teacher or a nun (in the case of the orphans), we did some pre-career fair preparation.

• Myers Briggs: the students completed a personality test that revealed which careers fit best for their type of personality.

• Resume

• Professionalism: what to wear, punctuality, how to greet professionals, etc.

• prepared questions for three professionals that they were most interested in

The event:

• Anacleto was the MC, running the show, managing the time, controlling the transitions.

Part I: Introduction
• I provided the introduction, explaining the methodology of the event, Peace Corps, etc.

• Dr. Ball, my director from PC, shared his personal life story, obstacles he overcame to get to where he is at today

• I guided the students to respond to some reflection questions

Part II: Careers

• Each professional briefly introduced themselves, then went to their "station"

• The students spent ten minutes at three different stations, asking questions and learning about different careers

Part III: Finaces and Higher Education

• Anacleto spoke about scholarships, how to manage your finances, pay for an education, and the value of a higher education

• Hermana ángela, a high school director, spoke in general about how to apply, where to look, etc.

• Each high school director briefly introduced themselves, then occupied a station

• The students visited the high schools that they were most interested in- to get more information about the school

Part IV: Libro de Mi Vida

• A scholarship student, Mynor, spoke about the “Life Book” that he completed, sharing the process and reflecting on his experience

• Approximately thirty students presented their “Life Book” projects to their parents

Part IV: Conclusion
• The supervisor said thanks to everyone

• We presented the diplomas

• Everyone ate chuchitos and drank Horchata, a rice drink

After the event:   The students reflected and asked questions about the event.  They completed a "Life Plan" worksheet, clearly defining their goals!

Here's an idea of the set-up of the event. Not ideal, but we worked with what we had.  The photo is of the supervisor, Paulina.

Here's an example of what one of the stations looked like.  Each profesional included their title, education, salary, and special abilities.

The students visiting the dentist!

The students who did the "Life Book" project!  The Life Book was a huge project where the students interviewed their parents and grandparents.  They learned about their past, analized their present, and planned for the future.

The supervisor and I presenting diplomas- always a very important moment.

A director promoting his high school

One poster with photos, describing the event.

 Dr. Ball's motivational speech!  It's in Spanish and Kachiquel.

In conclusion, it was a wonderful experience!! I learned so much, met so many people, built a lot of rapport in the community, improved my Spanish, introduced a completely foreign concept, was fortunate to have MANY professional Guatemalans to collaborate with and most importantly, provided students with useful information to make an informed decision regarding an educational future!!