Herndon Elementary Students Explore Future Employment At Career Day

HERNDON, VA — Students at Herndon Elementary talked to working adults on Wednesday about the jobs they may want to do one day, as part of the school's 26th annual Career Day.

"This year, I'm really excited," said Tiffany Bryant, who is a school counselor and one of the Career Day organizers. "We have three former students that are participating. They went through Herndon Elementary and they are now participating in Career Day talking about their careers."

One of those former Herndon Elementary students was Alex Tran, who is a regional exercise project coordinator at the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

"When I was a student here, I thought I wanted to be a reporter, actually," Tran told Patch. "I found a picture of me with an old press badge, too. When we were younger, for Career Day, they used to encourage us to dress up as our future career. So all my friends would be wearing soccer jerseys, military fatigues, lab coats, and they would bring all the props associated with that career too."

Tran discovered his current interest while studying at Christopher Newport University.

"I realized about halfway through college I wanted to go into emergency management, right when the pandemic started," he said. "I was an intern in our school's office of emergency management, which kind of allowed me to see a true response specifically to the COVID pandemic. That's where I really got all my experience and now I work for the state."

In the days leading up to Career Day, teachers and staff helped students prepare by making briefcases and encouraging them to talk about their interests and possible careers.

"I want them to align their interests to what they eventually will end up doing," Bryant said. "I tell them, 'You're a little kid. You may not know and that's fine. But I want you to think about your interests and it's never too early to start making a plan.'"

While sixth-grader Avery hasn't decided on a career, she did find the presentation by a dance school interesting, because she's currently doing competitive cheerleading.

Fellow sixth-grader Gabby would like to be a nurse one day. "I can help people cure a disease," she said.

Calen, another sixth-grader, wants to pursue a career in either zoology or oceanography one day.

"I go to all different kinds of places," he said. "I love to explore and look at all the different types of wildlife there and the species that are there. I love the ocean, because there's so many things that we haven't explored that I want to explore."