Teenagers are asked all the time what it is they want to be when they get older, but rarely do they get to see the ins and outs of what the job they’re interested in looks like. Most of the time, they have to wait until they are pursuing higher education before they can speak with someone or see how the job they’re interested in works, which is where the Guilford High School (GHS) parents come in.

GHS Connections, a parent-led organization that helps to put on the Career Exploration Fair, gets dozens of volunteers in the community to represent the profession they are in and the company that they work for to show students the vast amount of options at their disposal once they graduate, and even before they graduate high school. This year, the fair was on Oct. 21.

Danielle Munsell Howard, one of the people in charge of the event, says that students have a lot to think about when it comes to their future, but these events are a way for them to gather more information.

“There is a lot of importance and urgency placed on possible careers when the students are juniors and seniors considering their next steps,” she said. “They look at colleges, universities, trade schools, gap years, internships, and more, and it can be very overwhelming.”

GHS Principal Julia Chaffe echoed those comments, highlighting the importance of the fair and other events like it for students looking ahead to their futures.

“We wanted to have an event where our students could come in and learn about different careers and professions,” she said. “They [GHS Connections] have done a nice job of representing many different jobs and career paths, from entrepreneurial ventures to different areas of engineering.”

It was clear that many of the volunteers were passionate about what they do and were able to give the students a much more detailed and open look into what they do and how they got to be in the position they are in now. Michael Teape, an entrepreneur and founder of Teape Training International, originally started off by selling vacations in Europe back when he lived in England. Recently, he changed gears to coach people on things like public speaking, team building, and project management.

“A lot of these kids have no idea what they want to do out of high school or even college,” he said. “If I can help them with things like their resume and thinking through how they should communicate with people, that is our main goal with them.

For more information about GHS Connections or the next Career Exploration Fair, email GuilfordHighSchoolConnections@gmail.com.