Freshmen hear about real careers

Career Day at Arizona Western College was a great opportunity for students to discover what excites them and how they can attain the professional path they desire.

Seminars were organized by AWC's Talent Search/Upward Bound program. Fifty high school freshmen from Yuma, Kofa, Cibola, San Luis, Antelope and Parker high schools interacted with professionals to gauge what it is like to work in a field they expressed interest in, said Terry Shove, Talent Search/Upward Bound director.

"Your job is to ask questions. If you want to know if a nurse has to clean up poop all day, then you have got to ask."

At the ninth-grade level for some students, what they know about professionals comes from television, Shove noted. So Career Day may dispel the glamor associated with a dream job but it will give students a realistic view.

"For attorneys, probably the biggest misconception is, all they see them doing is cross-examining in court. But attorneys spend 90 percent of their time reading and writing. So you've got to love that."

The most important thing students need to learn is building a resume by joining school activity clubs and developing leadership potential by running for student government, Shove noted.

Some of the professions who sent representatives to Career Day were computer professionals, engineers, architects, lawyers, the FBI and the nursing profession.

The media do not portray health care accurately, said Mary Francoeur, director of AWC's nursing department. On the program "Scrubs," 90 percent of what the doctors do is actually performed by nurses, she said.

Francoeur recalled she could not figure out what to do for her own career. Her parents suggested nursing because she would never get by without a job "and they were right," she said.

AWC offers three levels of nursing. There is an associate's degree in applied science that requires four semesters. And all who complete the program will be registered nurses.

There is also licensed practical nursing, taking three semesters and a certified nursing assistant that can be completed in one semester.

"Most of what you are familiar with are hospital nurses but nurses can work in various professions: public health, the legal profession, occupational nurses and military nurses."

Not only must nursing students focus on math and science but also English because nurses document cases and are constantly communicating about a patient's status.

The knowledge level of nursing is always evolving, yet it is at the forefront of health care, Francoeur said. Those wanting to become a nurse or a doctor (seven to 10 years of schooling) must begin to acquire good information while still in high school.

Jena Garner, 14, a ninth-grade student at Parker High School, said she wants to be a pediatric nurse.

"I like to help little kids. I have all my advanced science and math classes now and I hope to go to (Arizona State University). I haven't thought about financial aid yet, maybe when I'm a junior. But this was definitely worthwhile."

Fernando Villegas, a planner with Yuma County Department of Development Services, conducted the architecture seminar.

Villegas came from a family of seven, went to AWC on a scholarship and then worked his way through an ASU degree. He said that coming from a low-income family is never an obstacle to becoming a professional because there are so many scholarship opportunities.

"We spend most of our day reviewing blueprints and making sure they meet Yuma County code. But what I want students to take from this is I hope they see me as an example to follow. I hope they continue their education and succeed as professionals."