From the frantic bee hive known as San Francisco Business Times to the peaceful serenity of Dwell Magazine, the Career Exploration Program has given students endless opportunities to explore the million careers available to them today. I had the pleasure of visiting a few businesses to see what our interns were up to.

Kyle Trevor, an incoming freshman at UC Berkeley, is currently interning at SF Business Times. He works on the Bay Area Peoples section where he writes short blurbs on who is promoted from what company and lead profiles on company CEOs and presidents. Although he has always enjoyed discovering new things and writing about them, he learned that “you don’t need to major in journalism to do it”.

Vivian Chau, an incoming freshman at Stanford University, may agree with Kyle since she is interning at Dwell Magazine but wants to be a neurologist. She says the advertising and marketing industry greatly affects the brain and how it functions - advertisements “persuade” our brains to make us think that we need certain products or services. At Dwell, Vivian works on an editorial credit excel sheet and updates competitive analysis reports. Although she has her mind set on becoming a neurologist, she says she “wants to keep her options open”. Good idea!

Not interested in writing? How about working at Super Ego Games? Forrest Rogers, an incoming senior at John O’Connell High School, has - what some people would call – “the coolest job ever”. He works on a computer game all day long, looks for mistakes and gives feedback to his supervisors. The game he is currently working on is Rat Race, which is due to come out summer of 2006. Forrest hopes to attend an art university where he can learn animation and game programming.

Are you a math wiz? Maybe you would be interested in looking into banking or accounting. Diana Long, an incoming senior at Burton, interns at First Bank where she updates signature cards, checks if accounts are open or closed, shadows the tellers, and cashes checks. A lesson she has learned from her internship is punctuality and time management. Other than that, she loves what she’s doing and, in the future, wants to pursue banking or business.

These are just four of the many careers that are available to you. You can also intern in the medical field, at law firms, in engineering, you name it! Don’t hesitate to explore - search on the internet or read some books. Find something you love and you’ll be surprised that you can get paid for doing it!

The Career Exploration Program runs during the summer and consists of about 40 student interns. For more information contact Erica at (415) 392-7600 ext. 315.

The Summer Gardening Program has been a great success this year thanks to the twenty-four students that dedicated their time and energy to beautify some of the parks in San Francisco. The four park locations are SF Botanical Garden, Buena Vista and McLaren Parks, and Crissy Field. The students spend twenty hours each week for seven weeks pulling weeds, planting, and maintaining the parks. I took a field trip to SF Botanical Garden to visit a few of our nature lovers.

As I approached the area where the students were working, I saw eighteen-year-old Elvis Silot, Jr. pulling branches from blackberry bushes that were almost twice his size. According to Elvis, “gardening takes a lot of endurance.” That was obvious because the students were sweating, and Elvis had a few scratches on his arms. However, he enjoys what he’s doing because the program keeps him busy during the summer while getting paid to do something physical.

Daphne Alvarado, a 15-year-old at Gateway High School, participated in this program because she is interested in gardening and wants to learn how to plant. Considering that she can now use the gardening tools correctly and knows which plants to pull, I’d say she’s met her goal.

Daphne also wanted to meet new people and make new friends. Overall, she really enjoys and is completely satisfied with the program.

While the Summer Gardening Program is great outdoor work experience, it also allows students to bask under the sun and get to know cool new people!

For more information about the Summer Gardening Program, contact Student Services at (415) 392- 7600 ext. 1.

Junior Caddies at the Olympic Club

Vern Glenn, a reporter from KRON 4 News reported on the Enterprise for High School Students Junior Caddie Program. It was interesting to see a professional reporter in the same jump suit and carrying the same Golf bags just like the caddie students. Glen says, “Being able to caddie is great and the bag is not heavy. It’s quiet and peaceful out here in the elements and golf is a great game!”. Unfortunately, no matter how much he enjoyed being a caddie, he does not plan to quit being a reporter. He says, “ I’ve school to pay for, I don’t think being a caddie will supplement my income. It is a lot of fun though. You never know.”

Junior Caddie Angi Deng, 17, an incoming senior at Lincoln High School this fall shares, “Being in the golf atmosphere and hearing the birds sing is wonderful. I mean, I am not a very earthy person; I won’t go camping unless there is a hotel, but I really enjoy being here at the Olympic Club.”

Angi joined the junior caddie program because she wanted to try something completely new. None of her family members or her friends have ever played golf before and she highly recommends that they all try something new, such as working in the golf course. Angi now learned the rules of golf, the different clubs and why people would come to play golf over and over again. She also found that she has an excitement for golf that she never knew about.

For Jamie Francisco, 17, also an incoming senior at Leadership High, the Junior Caddie Program was a great opportunity to continue his experience with golf, a game he truly enjoys. He tells us, “It has been great to work outside and get exercise.” Jamie
enjoys going on the golf course and forming good relationships with the golfers. Seeing them win or do well on their game satisfies him a lot. He added, “I’ve learned about how the upper class views the world and about their life style.”

This year continues Mike Bullard’s experience with caddying. Mike 16 an incoming junior Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory. Here is his advice: “To be able to caddie you got to know when to shut up, be patient, NEVER give advice, and be able to carry.” He enjoys talking to and watching the golfers, learning more about Golf, not to mention the TIPS!!

This year the caddie program consisted of nine students.

For more information about the Caddie Program, contact Josue Pandeli at 415-392-7600 x 313

Looking for a job? So are hundreds of students in San Francisco. What might increase students’ interests in looking for a job? There are many reasons such as experience, way to pass time, and of course, the Benjamin’s. In searching for a job, there are many things to consider such as time, field of interest, money, and qualifications.

Summer is the busiest time of the year that high school students are looking for a job because that’s when school is out of the way. Most students are looking for summer jobs to make money for college, etc. but some summer opportunities are gone even before the summer started, such as the Gardening or the Caddie Programs provided by Enterprise for High School Students. Students who are searching for a job often have to deal with the disappointment of calling the boss and finding out the job is taken when the heart is set on it. Another reason why it’s hard to find a job is because when competing with people of previous job experience, they have an advantage over people who doesn’t. Competing with teenagers for jobs is tough because there are limited jobs for 16 year olds. Most of the jobs require a minimum age of 18 and experience or knowledge of some sort.In searching for a job, it’s very competitive because a lot of students are looking for a summer job. I went to the office at Enterprise located in Downtown and there are more students looking for a job than during the spring or fall. Most of the spot and temporary jobs are taken after a couple hours because a lot of people are just looking for something to do in the summer. Be on the lookout when looking for a job and act fast!

Dezeria Clark (right) with employer Barbara Patinkin

Meet Dezeria Clark, ’05 graduate at Thurgood Marshall High School, who was making money at Classic Communication. I interviewed them earlier this week and the boss, Barbara Patinkin, said something very interesting to me: Intention is everything. Barbara told me that she hired Dezeria out of the many students that apply for the job because Dezeria seems like she was eager to learn. Dezeria was curious about the different type of cards sold at Classic Communication, ranging from birthday to wedding. Barbara told me that a boss always for a student with good intentions and eagerness to learn because it benefit both the people and company. She’s right! After a couple of weeks, Dezeria improves dramatically at her job, which includes working on invoices, thank you cards, and bookkeeping; keeping Barbara very happy with her good work. Wow, looks like there’s more to a job than a stunning resume and charisma!

Jobs are going fast in the market! Students are getting turned down because either the job is taken, age requirement, or qualifications. It is tough to look for a job but it is possible to find one if you’re eager to learn and look in the right places! Start by coming down to the job bank at Enterprise!

Learn more about our Job Bank by calling Student Services at (415) 392-7600 ext. 1.

“I want you to become a doctor” is what an overwhelming number of high school students hear from their parents. I find that many high school students want to discover ways to become very successful in things that genuinely interest them.

The Career Compass Program provides programs to help high school students explore possible educational and career options, and offers them tips in finding financial aid and scholarships.

Career Compass Student researching careers

A favorite part of the program is the online search for different types careers. Ellen Gong, a junior at Galileo, had a strong interest in joining the military. “I didn’t think that I had much skills for any other occupation.” Career Compass helped her discover her potential future career, to become a web designer.

Patrick Tran, a senior at Lowell, shared, “I joined Career Compass to figure out what I want to do in college.” Way to go Patrick! You saved yourself a lot of money and time by figuring out what you want to do before getting into college! Patrick previously considered hotel management and acting as possible future careers. Through Career Compass, Patrick developed an interest in Real Estate. He would recommend Career Compass to his friends “ because they might find something they want to do.” Through Career Compass, Patrick developed an interest in Real Estate.

Career Compass panel

Students who complete the Career Compass Program not only expand their knowledge on of possible career options, but they also leave the program with valuable tools to help them pursue their career and college goals.

The Career Compass Program at Enterprise meets for a total of four hours. Students meet with a career counselor for two sessions from 4:00 - 6:00 pm. To find out more, contact Purva Dandona at (415) 7600 ext.318.