Students eye career choices during Expo

About 80 business from around Acadiana gathered Wednesday for the annual Career Connections Expo at the Cajundome Convention Center in Lafayette with one goal in mind. That goal was to help local high school sophomores identify a career interest.

Students had an opportunity to meet with professionals who perform their jobs on a daily basis. Also, students got an idea of the job they want to do once they complete high school or college.

Students also visited a reality store, where they learned about the realities of living, which included transportation, housing, leisure and expenses.

Hundreds of sophomore students, accompanied by their teachers from Catholic High School, Delcambre High School, Highland Baptist Christian School, Jeanerette Senior High School, Loreauville High School, New Iberia Senior High School, St. Martinville High School and Westgate High School attended the expo.

Janet Goodwin, an academic advisor at South Louisiana Community College, said the career expo was a good idea because it gives high school students options to see in which careers they may be interested.

“My main objective here today is to get students interested in a two-year college in which they can obtain an associate degree,” Goodwin said. “Also, we have a program where you can take your freshmen and sophomore classes with us and later transfer to a four-year college.”

Nevin Landry and Drae Viator, students at Loreauville High School, said they received a lot of valuable information at the career expo. Landry said he wanted to learn more about becoming a coach at a high school or college.

“I talked to some representatives from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and I think I want to do that,” said Landry. “They told me I would have to obtain a bachelor’s degree in education from an accredited four-year university and maybe a master’s degree to coach in college. They said salaries for a high school coach vary from parish to parish, but it should be around $35,000 to $40,000 annually. That pay sounds pretty good in Louisiana.”

Viator said when he arrived at the expo he was unsure of what he wanted to do after he completes high school, but when he left he wanted to be a physical therapist.

“I am interested in physical therapy because I like sports a lot, and when athletes get hurt they have to come see you,” said Viator. “I talked to a couple of representatives from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and that career interests me.”

Ryan Gonzales, admission counselor with ULL, said Landry’s and Viator’s career choices are excellent ones.

“If they enjoy athletics and love being around athletes then those are two good career choices,” said Gonzales. “If they are successful in college and stay focused they should not have to move far because those jobs are always available in Louisiana.”

Chris Esponge, a student at Delcambre High School, said he might have to move away from Louisiana when he completes college because his career choice is horticulture.

“Horticulture is landscaping, planting, greenworks and greenhousing,” Esponge said. “I will need a four-year degree from an accredited college, and they make approximately $60,000 annually. LSU and ULL have some good horticulture programs, and I am thinking about going to one of those colleges.”

A lot of students also visited Dautrive Hospital’s booth.

“The nursing field is booming right now, and the pay is really good,” said Jeneen Turner, director of education at Dautrive Hospital.

“According to lahealthcareers.com the starting salary for a registered nurse in Louisiana is $44,100 and for an LPN is $26,290. Today, we are explaining to the students the different kinds of nurses, which are LPNs and RNs. LPNs have to go to a two-year technical college, or if they want to be a RN they will need to go to a four-year college.”

Chelsie Freyou, a student at Loreauville High School, said she is really interested in being a registered nurse.

“The pay is really good, and you can start off making about $35 a hour. When I complete college I want a big house and a nice car so I will need a nice paying job,” Freyou said.