Career Speakers Inspire Summit Students

Every Friday, Summit students are able to hear a career presentation and learn about a new profession. Many students are inspired by these speakers to pursue a particular career in the future, and they all are motivated to work hard in school to one day follow their dreams.

Many times, career speakers give the students a character talk about what drove and motivated them get to where they are today, and this helps all the students, whether they are interested in that particular career or not. Here is what a couple of career speakers that visited the boys' and girls' programs this summer had to say:

When Pilot Rich McEwan visited the boys' program, he first talked about how he worked as a fighter pilot in Vietnam War, then for Delta Airlines for 28 years and and now works for a private jet company. But Pilot McEwan realizes that not everyone wants to go into his line of work - so he also talked about how to create opportunities for yourself, no matter what career you choose to go into.

"By following the acronym 'C.O.W.S.,' you will be able to accomplish anything you want to," he advised the Summit students. C.O.W.S. stands for Cheerfulness, Order, Work, and Study. "An area of study will take you where you want to go, and by applying yourself and working hard, in addition to putting order in your life and setting your priorities, you will go far." Rich also told the students that a cheerful attitude will help them to persevere when times get tough.

Nurse Practitioner Theresa Hardy also had some words of wisdom for the Summit girls when it comes to figuring out what career to pursue: "God gave each of you special talents. Other people that know you well, like your family, can help you find out what your talents are and help you decide how to best use them. They can help you choose your vocation, or what you are called to do."

Theresa then talked about her path to finding her talents and becoming a nurse practitioner. She spoke about nursing as both an art and a science, because she sees treating patients with very special care and listening to them a necessary part of her job. She then challenged the girls to be "nurses" in their everyday lives by helping their friends and family in little ways.