Talking Careers With Middle School Students

If our future is in the hands of people like the students at Fallon Middle School, then I think we'll be OK.

I was one of two dozen professionals to speak to a classroom of 32 students on Friday morning as part of the school's career day.

I remember when I was in eighth grade. I think I'd just learned to tie my shoes. I didn't expect a high level of conversation from these 13-year-olds. But I was wrong.

I began my hour-long discussion with a 20-minute recap of my journalism career, which included 16 years in newspapers and 17 years in television news before joining Patch in October 2010. I also enlightened them on what Dublin Patch was all about.

Then, the questions came. One after the other. For the next 40 minutes.

They were not silly, off-the-wall queries. These were inquistive requests for information on Patch operations, how the Internet industry works and what education and skills will be required in the future.

The students were well-behaved, attentive and quite aware of the world in which they live. They were dressed up as though they were on interviews and some even sported ties.

What advice did I give them? Let me see if I can remember. As Katy Perry sings, it was kind of a blacktop blur.

I told them when they are choosing a career they should think about what industries will be flourishing in 10 years when they are out of college. What will the world be like?

I told them their job will likely be at least tied to the Internet, if not solely dependent on the Web.

I said they'd likely be working from homes or coffee shops. An office full of other people is not their likely work station. So, they need to be self-motivated and have good time management abilities.

I told them to develop a variety of educational and operational skills because it's a global economy and they are competing with young people from not just the United States but also China, India, Brazil and other emerging nations.

They were surprised by some of this information. They were interested in the challenge. But they were not daunted. They seem up to the task.