The Highland Park Landmark (April,17,2014) had a full page article about a career day that Elm Place Middle School ran. They had a yoga instructor, County Sheriff, musician, dentist, interior designer,etc. come and speak to middle schoolers. It was a nice article and pretty straight forward, but there was one quote that caught my eye.
And while seeing a classmate’s parent or a former student talk about their career might give students the reassurance that any of these careers are within their reach, it’s also an important networking opportunity; something many people might not think about as early as eighth grade. So much of life is about networking and it can start as early as eighth grade. In fact, we have a student who, five years ago, heard radio broadcaster David Kaplan and he later reached out in college and got an internship in the summer.
Question:
Is 8th grade a premature time to network and think about college internships? Are 8th graders supposed to think 6+ years down the road?
Follow Up Question
If the kids in Elm Place Middle School are consciously networking as early as 8th grade does it raise the bar for the rest of the future workforce? Are other 8th graders going to be at a disadvantage? Does this type of networking happen naturally without a career day? (e.g. your friend's father knows someone, your uncle works at... etc.)
Thanks for reading! Just wanted to share something that was on my mind.
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