Dr. Sharon Clanton organized a College and Career Expo on January 22 for the purpose of helping students to decide their career paths. But this time it is not just all about the college of choice.

 “This year, I want to focus more on the schools as I did last year and they will be set up in the gym but it is critical that Senators understand the different careers that are available to them. And that is why, in addition to the college fair, I am including the career component which will include representation of professions from six different pathways,” Clanton said.

Clanton invited representatives from the area of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) as well as representatives of forensic and cryogenic sciences and a gentleman who was a principal contributor in the development of the ballistic missile in Redstone.

“We are going to have everything from cryogenics, marketing, public relations, communications, business and finance and we have a phenomenal financial planner who is going to be going into detail about that as a profession as well as to help students learn how to use that themselves,” Clanton said.

Dr. Adam Panagos of Dynetics, Melodie Brier, a financial specialist with Edward Jones and Dr. Timothy White were present. Students were most impressed with Dr. Al Killen of Intuitive Research and Technology commenting that Killen’s session was a positive and informative experience that really made them think about their future in the field of technology and business.

“I learned a lot from this expo. I got to meet different colleges to get an idea of what life will be like and the representatives were great,” senior Katherine Tuck-Logan said.

Colleges such as Auburn University, University of Alabama in Birmingham and Athens State were present. However, the College and Career Expo had more to offer than just colleges of interest. Senior Meredith Poore appreciated the diversity of the colleges from different areas and how Clanton brought the best out of multiple career pathways.

 “Last year’s really just focused on the colleges and connecting students with different schools and enabling them to check the tires and look under the hood and compare schools. We are going to do that again this year  because that is important but in addition to that we’re going to target  the specific needs of students like what to expect your first year of college and managing your money and FAFSA. In addition to those targets, we are going to address the different career pathways and that is absolutely critical,” Clanton said.

Clanton encouraged all grades—including freshman—to join in on the expo to start thinking about choosing their career pathways and to give them something that they need to really think hard about.

“It breaks my heart when I hear students say ‘Dr. Clanton I’m not a senior, I don’t need to be concerned about that right now.’ That couldn’t be farther from the truth. In reality, you should be thinking about it before you go to the ninth grade because once you start ninth grade the official clock starts ticking. And so if eighth graders cannot understand the importance of planning and strategizing, they can really sink their GPA that freshman year. So it is absolutely critical that all students attend,” Clanton said.