The first annual Bay Area Youth Center Opportunities Career Kickstart took place on Feb. 27 at CHS, attended by around 50 students, program director, senior Raashi Sachdeva said. With planning orchestrated by students such as Sachdeva herself, BAYCO aims to guide younger peers in finding their career paths.

“It’s a great opportunity to explore the future career paths that are available to [students],” Sachdeva said. “In this world where STEM is very emphasized, to be able to hear about other careers is really helpful, especially for underclassmen to get some experience, even if they’re not actually in the field doing the work.”

During the event, three accomplished panelists consisting of an electrical engineer, a data analyst and an endocrinologist offered valuable advice on career preparation, attendee, freshman Aarohana Nagarajan said. 

Another attendee, freshman Piper Aist, said the event was beneficial for gaining insight into the daily aspects of certain careers, including work-life balance.

“Hearing from people with actual experience in the field can help you plan for your future,” Aist said. “It’s a very useful experience to go and hear from others as well as meet new people.”

This year, BAYCO made an effort to introduce more literature-based majors in their presentations to address inconsistencies in career guidance and lack of exposure to majors not in STEM, Sachdeva said. 

“It’s a challenge that many students may face because they’re maybe brought up or their peers are very focused on STEM, and they’re unable to expand their horizons and see that there are careers beyond STEM,” Sachdeva said.

Although she has not decided what field to pursue, Nagarajan said the event offered her some reassurance for the future. 

“I’m not really sure of what I want to do, and they touched on that a bit and said that I should just expose myself to different things,” Nagarajan said. “[We also learned] how a lot of jobs have similarities through different fields, like every single one [required] collaboration.”

Similarly, Sachdeva said BAYCO provided students with an impactful opportunity to express their passion and develop an understanding of their future.

“Events like these are important for students to be able to attend to and hear insights that I would have loved to hear in my freshman year,” Sachdeva said. “It demonstrates interest on the part of the student [and] shows that the student was making an active effort to go out and explore their intended major or their intended career.”