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Mankato Area Free Press Saturday

February 12th, 2005

Thinking Career

By Ben Sandell

Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO - Tezary Zernechel wants to be a massage therapist. Jamie Herrmann wants to be a music therapist. Mark Hansen an engineer. John Kaufman a carpenter.

These decisions didn't come easy for the West High School students, they said. And while they know such career paths could change, they also realize many other students are still struggling even with initial career goals.

Their advice?

"You got to find something you love to do, then find a way to get paid for it," Zernechel said.

Careers were on the minds of Mankato high school students Friday. It was Service Occupations Career Day hosted by the Greater Mankato Chamber of Commerce and Mankato Area Public Schools . It is one of four career days held throughout the year in the district.

"The goal is to get more of these kids thinking about their future," said Barb Embacher, career education coordinator with the district - a fairly new position with Mankato schools. "Kids and parents feel we're not doing enough in the career planning area."

This is the second year the district has held this many career days with so much emphasis. And it's working - participation from students is going up, said East Principal Don Poplau.

"In the past it was more sporadic," he said. The new, more focused approach arose out of the Chamber's recent cooperation with the district in the hopes to foster better career choices among students in the community, he said.

More than a dozen area businesses held on-site career tours for students during the morning. In the afternoon, motivational speaker Sam Allman - who flew in from Georgia for a rare visit - spoke to East and West 10-12- graders.

Eighty percent of people in the American workforce hate their jobs, Please see CAREER, Page B3

CAREER: Told students to- be proactive

Continued from Page B1

Allman told the student body at West High School .

“Just because you choose something at 19 or 20 doesn't mean you have to stick with that," he told them. The people who just give up and stop striving for a job they like, Allman called "road kill."

He told the kids to be proactive. He told them to plan ahead.

And even for students who had an idea of what they want to do after graduation, the speech was encouraging, said Scott Klapperich, a sophomore.

"It gets you thinking - you got to get out there and do it."

Construction, Manufacturing, and Engineering Career Day will be held May 13.