April 1, 2004

Today, Tomorrow and Beyond
Bret Harte Career Day takes on a new twist

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

Unlike years past, where the entire student body at Bret Harte participated in individual sessions and experts spoke on a multitude of career options, this year took a new spin and focused on the many turns one’s life may take on the road to their ultimate career destination.

On Wednesday, Bret Hart hosted “Attitudes For Achievement: High School, College and Beyond,” a three-hour interactive event geared toward answering questions, offering suggestions and reaching goals. The target: eighth grade students on the cusp of entering high school.

“In the past, we’ve had a total career day with all the sixth, seventh and eighth graders,” admitted Principal Don McCloskey. “This year, we wanted it to be more relevant to our eighth graders who are about to jump into the high school world and beyond.”

Organized in part by Community Club President Louise Gill, the main event featured a keynote session called “Your career, how far can you go?” with United Way President and CEO Mark Walker, Assistant Chief of Police Dewey Hosmer, and Vice Mayor Pat Dando as guest speakers. All three call Almaden home and were willing to disclose their full-circle career voyages and how they arrived there.

Three sessions followed the assembly, including one where a panel of Leland students fielded questions relative to how the high school experience parlays into college plans. Another focused on college preparation, using the insights of Leland High School College and Career Counselor Joan Albers, along with Bret Harte teacher and UCLA Scholarship Committee member Bobby Csaplar, who enlightened students on the various education levels and the salaries that rise with each. The third session showcased recruitment specialist Sonshine Doust of Spherion, Inc, who educated the kids on identifying their strengths and weaknesses.

Rattling off 26 different jobs in fields ranging from broadcasting to education, moderator and eighth grade social studies teacher David Rapaport advised the students to make the most of all the stops on their career paths.
“You’ll want to choose a career, that’s fun, exhilarating and provides a lot of personal satisfaction—a career that meets your personality and what you want out of life,” explained Mark Walker. “It’s as simple as that. But there are a lot of paths that will take you along the way.”

Walker, who lives in Almaden spoke about conventional thinking, which in the past meant choosing one career after high school and sticking to it. After 23 years with SBC, he is now in his second year of his second career with United Way and he said things have changed. “Conventional wisdom today means you can have more than one career. You don’t have to be totally sold on what you are doing immediately out of high school or college. I absolutely knew I wanted to be an attorney in high school,” he added. “But I changed my mind.”

Vice Mayor Pat Dando remembered receiving calls from the school when her two sons attended Bret Harte, and explained that they were not invitations to speak at the time. “They [the boys] may have been trying at times, but I’m happy to say they are both out of college,” she said. “You think about what you are doing today and project that out 15 years from now, what would you like to be doing?” Using former Bret Harte student and astronaut Steve Smith as an example, Dando added, “You have the opportunity to do anything you set your mind to.”

When faced with little in the way of solutions to numerous issues she took to City Hall a decade ago, Dando had long since fulfilled her goal of becoming a teacher, yet found herself thinking she could make better decisions for the community than the Councilman in office. Ten years later, she not only occupies his seat, but his office as well. “It’s sweet revenge,” she said.

Hosmer, also an Almaden resident whose daughters attended Bret Harte, admitted that he read everything he could get his hands on in school and knew that whatever he did, he wanted to make a difference. His career spans three years in the military, followed by a lifetime of public service with the police department. “It doesn’t matter what you want to do in life,” he said. “Whatever you do, enjoy it and have fun. That’s how you’ll do well.”

“My role is to be a role model,” added Hosmer. “As a leader, I have to set the tone for leadership by example. In our case, it is optimism, it is enthusiasm, it’s a can do spirit and not letting any obstacle get in the way for you to be successful.”

Overcoming obstacles was one of many student questions. “The largest obstacle I’ve had to face is the fear of failure,” admitted Walker. “I was afraid to stick my neck out because I was afraid I would fail. One day I woke up and said it was time to try to fail.”