Hundreds of WHS students attended Tuesday’s STEM panel to hear from a diverse range of STEM professionals about their career paths thus far. (Photo by Peter Currier)
WESTFIELD- Westfield High School hosted a forum Oct. 22 where high school students could come and hear from professionals in a diverse range of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields.
The WHS STEM Panel featured professionals in Information Technology, engineering, architecture and animal medicine, among others. Each person spoke about their experiences in their field briefly before opening up the floor to questions from students. The panel was held as part of Massachusetts STEM week. The Pioneer Valley STEM Network is responsible for the STEM events in Westfield from Oct. 21 to Oct. 25.
Jen Werner, department chair for the Landscape and Design Management program at Springfield Technical Community College, talked about the importance of having an internship before jumping right into the career they think they want. She noted that many people may start their careers at “bottom rung” jobs that don’t necessarily reflect the innovation that is happening at the higher levels of a given STEM field.
“I mean even like a job you might think, ‘oh this is bottom of the rung,’ you don’t have to be inventing the next great thing,” said Werner, “Just getting your hands into the field, whatever it is. In my field you get a job at a golf course or something like that. It may not be where you want to stay, but you can learn all kinds of things that are transferable further down in your career.”
Jeff Cooper, an associate professor of electronics and the department chair of Biomedical and Engineering Technologies for STCC, said that he thinks Boston and large parts of Massachusetts are turning into a smaller “Silicone Valley” of sorts where many tech firms are finding success. Cooper also echoed the works of Werner, in saying that he found himself bouncing around jobs that he didn’t like much when he was younger before he really found what he wanted to do.
During the Q&A portion of the forum, one student asked what advice the panelists had for WHS seniors who will be graduating in the spring.
“My advice is to try something that you know you’re not going to succeed at,” said Tina Dutra, a development engineer for Initiation and Linear Transfer Systems.
Another question asked by a student was whether any of the panelists had ever faced their own doubts about going into a STEM field before they committed.
Cooper, and several other panelists, said that they did doubt themselves at times. Cooper said that he often found himself unable to imagine the other side of four years of school, and at times found himself thinking that his field was too difficult to continue.
“They key is to keep your eyes open on what you want and what you want to have your life look like,” said Cooper.
