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Megu (11)

Mia (10) and Abby (10) hope to become artists one day.

In the words of Confucius, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”.  As high school students reach a point in their lives when they need to start making serious decisions about their future, it is important to expose students to the world beyond the classroom: the working world.

On March 11, the Executive Student Council hosted the first ever High School Career Day. This one hour event allowed students to listen to Sacred Heart alumni and parents talk about their careers. students were able to pick two careers, which they were most interested in, and listen to each speaker for fifteen minutes. The speakers represented fields in  Architecture, Foreign Affairs, IT, and Medial careers.

Planning  this event, however, did not happen overnight. Yoko (12), the Executive Student Council President, said that the planning  started at the end of last year. “The execs have always wanted to have a Career Day, and I wanted to make it happen before I graduate.” Lisa (11), the Executive Secretary Treasurer, said that the first step was to invite the speakers. Fortunately, the executive team faced no challenges there, as the interest level of parent and alumni speakers was quite high. However, the executives faced some challenges in organizing the logistics. According to Yoko (12), the most difficult step in the process was getting in contact with the parents and alumni. She said, they all have very busy schedules. The day started promptly at 1 p.m. with students heading off to listen to their first speaker. After the first fifteen-minute session, students found their way to their next courses. “I liked how each student was able to chose a course they were interested in, as it helped us get an idea of what it’s like working in that field,” said Naho (11).

The event ended with all the high school students listening to Tiziana Alamprese, a marketing director for FIAT Japan. Ms. Alamprese talked to the high school about the importance of staying true to yourself, even in a male dominant work field. “As we are an all girls school, we can sometimes feel like we aren’t allowed to go into a job just because it’s a ‘man’s job’, but listening to Ms. Alamprese’s story, I learnt that the key is to follow your passions and don’t let anybody tell you what you can and cannot do,” said Miya (12).  

The Executive Student Council is looking to continue and expand this event in the future, as many other international schools in the Kanto Plain area have Career days that last a full day.

“I’m definitely hoping that Career Day will become a full day event, as fifteen minutes is quite a short time to fit in all the information, but it was a starting point,” says Theint Theint (11).