Aragon hosted several outside companies and organizations in its Summer Opportunities Fair on March 5. The event took place in center court during lunch, and there were roughly 15 different organizations in attendance.
“Students can stop by the tables and talk to each of the representatives to see what opportunities and information they have available,” said Helen O’Brien, Aragon’s Career Technical Education and Career Coordinator, an organizer of the event. “Some of these opportunities might just be a summer job, some of them might be internships for the summer, some of them might be volunteer opportunities, and some might even be be working or doing classes abroad.”
Last year’s fair was a bit smaller, with about 30 different representatives compared to approximately 40 this year.
“Last year went well,” O’Brien said. “It was actually the first year we took feedback afterwards, and we got some really good feedback from the students. For instance, a lot of the students last year said there weren’t enough internship opportunities, so this year that’s been something that we focused on.”
“This is my first year here, but I believe Boys & Girls Club has been attending this event for the past five years,” said Brittney Lynn, a representative for the San Mateo Boys and Girls Club. “The fair usually brings in a lot of students. We see a lot of kids come in and volunteer at our programs, and they learn a lot about or other program opportunities when they do that.”
Several representatives noted that volunteer positions were more popular compared to paid ones.
“We offer both an internship and a volunteer opportunity here, but most students are interested in the volunteer opportunities,” said Lynn. “It tends to be more appealing since the hours are a lot more flexible, even though there’s no pay involved.”
Some stands still received a lot of buzz, despite not offering any official positions.
“We’re basically here to remind students that the library exists,” said Carla Ovatamale, a visitor with San Mateo Public Library, “and that we have a lot of resources they can be taking advantage of over the summer, especially while their own library is closed.”
Many students seemed to find the Fair informative and helpful.
“I want to start looking for a job over the summer, but it’s kind of hard to know where to start, because there’s [not a lot of obvious opportunities] in San Mateo, and not everybody will hire high schoolers with not a lot of experience,” said freshman Addison Cornwal. “This kind of thing makes it easier for me to see what’s available and who’s actually looking for high school kids in their positions.”
As students continue to search for summer jobs, O’Brien advises that they should take careful note the time commitments for each summer opportunity.
“One things students need to keep in mind is that if they land a job during the summer, that job might continue or overflow into the coming school year. I really encourage students to stop by as many tables as possible and get information from a lot of different companies.”
