On Oct. 19,  a virtual fall career seminar co-hosted by the Asian American Parents Association, Cupertino Library Foundation and Bay Youth featured the careers of several FUHSD alumni. At the event, more than 100 student and parent attendees explored fields of government, finance, nutrition, data science and advocacy. 

The seminar began with an introduction of the five panelists: Gregory Moe, a Monta Vista High School graduate and senior business analyst at Capital One; Carl Shan, a Lynbrook graduate and LinkedIn data scientist; Jade Niu, a Cupertino High School graduate and dietitian/nutritionist; Noa Bronicki, a Homestead High School graduate and advocate for high-quality early learning opportunities and Tara Sreekrishnan, a Monta Vista graduate and Santa Clara County Board of Education trustee. 

AAPA is led by a group of dedicated parents who aim to address concerns about K-12 education, while the Cupertino Library Foundation aims to provide financial support for diverse educational and cultural programs. Both organizations worked together to advertise the event and recruit panelists with distinctive career experiences.

Guided by hosts and seniors Jason Shan and Ethan Feng, the panelists each answered a set of pre-prepared questions, explaining why they pursued their respective careers, which extracurriculars were the most impactful to them and what role their parents played in their career choices. The panelists gave students advice for finding success after high school, emphasizing the pursuit of genuine interests without letting others influence one’s choices. 

“It was a good reminder of what we should really care about,” senior Ethan Feng said. “It’s easy to just focus on things like college applications or grades, but from the speakers’ perspectives, looking back into their high school years, these factors had almost no impact on their current lives.”

Since all of the panelists attended FUHSD high schools, they provided valuable insights into the impact the school environment had on them.

“Our school system can be very demanding because there’s a strong focus on academics rather than social activities,” Sreekrishnan said. “My advice would be to have a bit more fun, because after graduation, you’ll be wondering why you worried about a lot of the things you found yourself stressing over.”

Parents left the seminar with a better understanding of what kinds of careers are open to their children and how to best support them from high school to adulthood, and students better prepared to take on their futures.