Fair Helps Students With Career Choices

Subha Palanivelu wandered around the Granada Hills High auditorium picking up brochures, filling out information cards and chatting with recruiters Thursday at the school’s career fair.

“Sometimes I think I want to be a doctor or an astronaut,” the 16-year-old junior mused. “Right when I think I’ve got it, I change my mind. It’s so hard.”

Subha’s uncertainty about her future was typical of the 1,300 juniors and seniors who met with representatives from 30 universities, trade schools, emergency services and the armed forces.

Organizers said they hoped the event would help alleviate students’ anxiety about their future by giving them an opportunity to talk one-on-one with people actually working in their fields of interest.

“We want to work with students to make sure they have a place to go after they get their diplomas,” said Hank Nicoletti, the school’s career advisor.

The career fair is one of numerous school programs designed to help students make a successful transition from high school to higher education or to the workplace, he said. Other programs include job shadowing, guest lectures, college application workshops and college tours.

“We don’t expect them to pick a career today, but we want them to begin to think about areas of study, colleges and eventual careers,” Nicoletti said.

Subha agreed she was not quite ready to commit to a career.

“I’m good at writing and I’m good at English,” she said. “I might become a sports commentator or own my own hotel or restaurant.”

But there was one thing she knew for sure. “My mother told me, ‘Don’t be like your cousin. You have to finish college in four years.’ ”