Career hints for students from those who know best

Jassette Barnett: “I want to be a corporate lawyer. I really enjoyed the present- ation and I learned a lot from it.”	Anthony Ebanks: “I’ve been to visit Hunter & Hunter. Now I’m looking at a career in law."	Jhanelle Ennis: “The work load is scary, but if you really want to do it, it won’t be work for you.”

(l-r) John Gray High School Careers Counsellor,
Margaret Jackson; students Jassette Barnett, Anthony
Ebanks, and Jhanelle Ennis; and the Institute of Legal
Training’s Sandra Catron

Tuesday, April 6, 2004

Words and photos: Jackie Mahon

In an effort to help narrow down career choices, John Gray High School’s Year-12 students got first-hand information from a Graduate of Law last week, as part of their work experience programme.

The programme invites representatives from select companies to speak to the students about the benefits and pitfalls of their particular business and their personal impression of their career choice.

“It’s different because the students actually get to talk to the professionals who can give them a personal point of view,” said Careers Counsellor Margaret Jackson.

“They can give the students all the background, the pros and the cons. Basically they’re hearing from the people doing the jobs.”

Last week, a group of 17-year-olds got to hear about the reality of life for Attorneys from Graduate of Law, businesswoman, and political-hopeful, Sandra Catron.

“A career in law is a very exciting career,” Ms Catron told the group. “It’s not what you see in TV, which is what most people think. It’s not like The Practice or Law And Order. That’s really a misrepresentation, to a large extent, of what a legal career is like.

“The average attorney or barrister-at-law never even goes to court. You don’t want to go to court if you can help it.”

Ms Catron, a candidate in this year’s election and a member of Toast Masters, never shies away from an opportunity to speak in front of a crowd, and a group of High School students was no exception.

She said: “I remember what it was like at that stage trying to figure out what it is you want to do, and having a lot of misconceptions which you could see from their questions.

“It’s good from my perspective to be able to open their eyes a little bit to show them what my experience has been and what to expect realistically.”

Over the past year, students at John Gray High School have heard from representatives from the Cayman Islands Tourism Association, Cayman Executive Coaching, the Health Authority and the Chamber of Commerce, among others.

Visits from the Caribbean Utilities Company and the Royal Cayman Islands Police were particularly well received, according to Ms Jackson, but the study of law also peaked interest.

“This has been very successful,” she said, “because a lot of the students want to do law but don’t really realise how much dedication is needed to become a lawyer.”

Following the presentation 17-year-old Jhanelle Ennis commented: “I already knew it took a lot of dedication and a lot of work, but today has helped me to realise that, yes, the workload is pretty scary, but if you really want to do it, than it won’t really be work for you.”

For student Anthony Ebanks the presentation added to his research on a career in law.

“I have thought about law,” he said. “I went to Hunter & Hunter to do a tour. Since then, I’ve wanted to look more closely at a career in law.”

For Jassette Barnett the presentation helped to narrow down her options.
“I want to be a corporate lawyer,” she said. “I find it very interesting working in the business world. I’ve already talked to a couple of people about it and they inspired me a lot. This presentation was really pleasant. I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot from it.”

Ms Jackson said: “The feedback to the presentations has been very positive. We try to get different people from different walks of life in order to cater for all students, so some are academic and some are less academic.”

For her part, Ms Catron was impressed with her audience. “We had a lot of bright kids out here today. I’m sure some of them will look at the legal profession and try their hand at it, and that’s exactly what we want to encourage,” she said.

Next on John Gray’s careers counselling agenda are representatives from the Ritz-Carlton, Deloitte & Touche, the Meteorology Department and Civil Aviation.

For more information on John Gray High School’s work experience programme contact Margaret Jackson at 949-9444.

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