On Wednesday, Sept. 22 students attended a college visit at the Milford Campus to see their options of future career paths. The Skilled and Technical Sciences division had hands-on learning activities for students to participate in. Juniors and seniors in the 25 county service regions got to choose three programs while they were on campus to go and learn more about. 

This career exploration day was one of the first on-campus events in over a year. More than 300 prospective students and their guests attended this construction day on the Milford Campus. The day started with check-in between 8:15-9:00 a.m. Students from all over Nebraska were able to register for this Exploration day. After registered students were all checked in, the Welcome Ceremony began. 

“The day is set up in a way that allows students to visit multiple stations including hands-on activities, “Director of Admissions Kat Kreikemeier said. “The stations are run by the Southeast Community College faculty and students as well as industry partners. The goal is that students participate in activities similar to what they would in our classrooms and ultimately do at a job in the industry. Students have the opportunity to do everything from welding, to programming robots, making network wiring, pouring concrete, using drones to map GPS data, operating mini excavators and so much more. We want to make the day as fun and engaging as possible.”

During the welcome ceremony the students were given name tags and their group number so they could separate students into groups based on their interests. Each student separately picked three pathways to learn about when they were registering. The three pathways they wished to learn more about will have hands-on activities that give students the chance to learn new skills in the construction industry that relate to their specific field of interest.

“When I was registering for the day I had to pick three programs to learn more about,“ senior Bret Sliva said. “I then was separated into a group with people who chose similar interests as I did. My favorite part of the day was the John Deere section; they gave us the opportunity to explore the whole facility and talk to the instructor about the way that it works. They also gave us the opportunity to drive some equipment.”

Students get a real idea of what their future could look like with these activities. It helps them narrow their list down of future jobs and interests. At this career day they had many different activities for the students to participate in such as construction, welding, John Deer diesel technician etc. 

“I think it definitely helped me narrow it down to what I want to do and also opened my eyes a little bit to other fields of work,“ senior Leo Higgins said. “It made me realize that I don’t think I could do welding for a living and I was really interested in that before.” 

This event is just one of many Southeast Community College (SCC) Career Days. But this isn’t the only event they will be hosting this year. SCC is also hosting careers in Manufacturing Technology Day, Careers in Transportation Day, Careers in Healthcare Day and Agriculture Day.

The campus is all about getting kids involved and helping these students figure out their path. Students will leave with a better view on what their future could look like one day.