The Kenai Central High School had its annual Job Shadow Day this past Tuesday, February 13th, and over 100 students attended this year’s event.
Job Shadow Day has been an ongoing tradition for 25 years. The high school and the Kenai Chamber of Commerce have teamed up over the years to help students get connected to local businesses and learn more about their potential career interests.
Approximately 25 businesses participated this year, including Kenai Aviation, Cook Inlet Water Association, Central Peninsula Hospital, and many more.
Students were given tours and got to see the day-to-day life experiences within their selected fields from 7:30 a.m. to about noon. From there, the students were brought back to the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center to hear a presentation from some of the local figures on the Peninsula.
Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel opened the presentation by sharing some of his personal stories in the job market, and how they have changed over time. He started working at 12 years old as a Hot Carrier but learned very quickly that this was something that wasn’t for him. It was an important lesson that everyone rarely gets it right the first time. But that’s the exciting part about it.
“But you never know where you start, where you end up. And the whole point of the exercise is to say ‘Don’t be afraid to try new things.’ Don’t expect that you might start somewhere, because I can tell you one thing, that one of the elements that you’re going to want to find in whatever you do, is that you should be happy in what you do and what you do that every day that you want to do. You know, not every day is going to be, you know, rainbows and unicorns. But it should be something that you enjoy doing and that makes it less of a job, right,” said Gabriel.
He also mentions that while having a good income is beneficial, it isn’t everything.
“Money doesn’t always play into that. I can tell you what if you some people do. You know volunteer work but that’s what they find joy and that’s what I think with my message to you would be find something that fulfills more than just your financial needs,” said Gabriel.
Liam Floyd, the Recruitment & Development Coordinator for the Kenai Chamber of Commerce, also agreed with the Mayor that not everyone gets it right the first time, and that’s okay! He shares a story about how he went to Washington for a 10-week program in engineering, only to learn that that was a career he didn’t want to pursue. The positive is that he was able to use that experience to guide him in the path of what he would want to do in the future, which is exactly what he encouraged the students at this event.
“This is a very, very unique opportunity you have so and I do appreciate every time that I chat with any of you students who were all very serious about this. Nobody was goofing off. And I applaud you guys for that so I wanted to say thank you for taking it seriously, and thank you for caring about your future,” said Floyd.
Junior student Gavin Hunt spent his day with Kenai Aviation. Although he originally thought he wanted to pursue acting, after his experience, he learned that he has a big its in aviation, specifically air traffic control. Over, he says that this event was a very positive experience for him, and made his possibilities that much more diverse.
“The main thing that I want to say is that this was truthfully a great opportunity to like, really learn about this area and what the options and possibilities there are,” said Hunt.