FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION – Ashley McKay knows what she wants to do when she grows up.
Many of her classmates, however, have no clue.
The 17-year-old Grade 12 student at Dennis Franklin Cromarty has dreams of becoming a paramedic, and on Friday joined dozens of students from five Thunder Bay high schools at a job fair held at Fort William First Nation to figure out how to achieve that goal.
Having the opportunity to meet with paramedics was a fantastic first step, as she learned a little bit more about the requirements needed to follow her chosen career path.
She was looking at ways to help pay for her education.
“I wanted definitely to get a lot of information about what to do after high school, preferably before college, stuff like job opportunities and volunteering opportunities.”
On Friday she started with St. John Ambulance.
“It just looks interesting to save lives,” the youngster said, explaining why she wants to be a paramedic.
While she’s a step ahead of the career game, it’s not uncommon for her peers to have no idea what they want to do with their lives after high school.
It makes it tough to make education choices for anyone in that situation.
That’s where job fairs can play a positive role.
“In my opinion it’s very good to have career fairs for students who don’t know what to do yet for college.”
Ed Collins, the manager of economic development at Fort William First Nation, said the reserve’s leadership has noticed a growing disconnect between youths in the community and the available jobs. The job fair, which was open to all students, was a chance to bring the two sides together.
“There are a lot of opportunities for employment training and the youth just aren’t getting it,” Collins said. “So we decided to have this job fair to try to promote some of the opportunities to the youth.”
Potential employers, including Canada Border Service Patrol, the military, OPP and Ontario Power Generation were on hand to discuss what they do and the requirements needed to work for each organization.
It was a chance to drop off resumes and get one-one-one time with the job sector.
Hip-hop artist George Palosaari, who goes by the stage name Preme, was part of a panel of Fort William First Nation success stories, brought in to provide information to the job fair attendees and show them that if they put their mind to something, they can achieve it.
“I’m trying to get the message across that if you want to do something you love, do a lot of preparation, get an education at a younger age and you’ll open up a lot more doors for you that way,” he said.
