During the 2020-2021 school year, the NASH GOAL Department launched Career Conversations, a series devoted to connecting juniors and seniors with professionals in their fields of interest. Created during remote learning when in-person meetings were restricted, the program allowed students to obtain required shadowing hours for college applications, in addition to offering learning opportunities to understand possible careers further.
They’ve been so helpful and successful that we’ve continued to offer them, even now that in-person shadow studies are more feasible.
— Janellen Lombardi, NASH GOAL teacher
The speakers who participate in teaching students about their fields are selected in a variety of ways. The organizers of the conversations collect data from GOAL students to determine what careers interest them. With this information, various contacts are approached, some are community members, parents of NA students, family members of teachers, and even former students.
“Students have learned about jobs that they didn’t know existed,” NASH GOAL teacher Mrs. Lombardi said. “For example, one of our students was really torn between a career in medicine (their strength) and a career in business (their passion). She attended the Career Conversation with a hospital administrator and realized that career path combined both her interests.”
The annual series exposes students to a wide variety of career paths.
“Another example was a very creative student who comes from a family of medical professionals,” Lombardi explained. “When this person learned about music therapy, she saw the career as a way to use her specific strengths to extend the values her family holds dear.”
The lessons of GOAL’s Career Conversations expand beyond learning the details of professions — they also show students how speakers reached their positions.
The guidance provided by speakers expands beyond the confines of NASH. Many professionals give students contact information and recommend potential opportunities related to their field. This has led to some students seeking help outside of the conversations by sending questions through email, engaging in personalized interviews with speakers, or experiencing in-person shadow studies.
This year’s series has concluded, but students who missed out on a conversation they were interested in can view the recordings at the link above. Each year of the series can be viewed via the drop-down menu in the top right corner of the site.
