UNL Representative helps Mead Students Discover Career Possibilities
by Kori Jensen
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a question many high school students face. Jill Brown of The University of Nebraska Lincoln Career Services visited the Agricultural Literacy class on September 29th to help them with this decision. She explained that each of today’s high school students will have an average of 12-16 careers in their lifetime and let the students know that 1 in 4 careers in Nebraska are agricultural. This gives students a great chance of finding themselves in several agricultural careers in their lives. Jill passed out BINGO cards and the students filled them in with each of the 28 majors the College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources (CASNR) has to offer. Next, Jill told about career opportunities, internships, and field trips and the students guessed which major led down each path. BINGO gave the students a way to earn prizes while learning about college. Jamie Larsen said, “Jill opened up my interest in the Fisheries and Wildlife major because of the travel opportunities to places such as Africa.” Students were surprised to learn that the forensic science major was in CASNR, but as Jill talked about the importance of insects, soils, plants, and weather in these cases they realized agriculture’s role in solving these crimes. Jenna Schutt said she learned, “If I decide to go into the medical field getting a degree in agriculture may help me get there.” The Mead students had fun playing the CASNR BINGO game and learned about college and career opportunities. This experience opened students’ eyes to the opportunities that lie before them. Michele Garcia said, “She made me think more about an agricultural career and take a second look at some careers I hadn’t considered.
