SRHS Students highlight career paths
By Ashley Shah
Sophomores at Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) Michael Ohayon and Anush Salaniwal started a club to help students of all levels learn about career paths.
“When I was in quarantine, I was talking to a lot of college and fellow high school students about what career they wanted to enter. For a lot of students, they found it hard to nail down one answer. Many of them didn’t know what they wanted to do and, honestly, I found myself in the same boat,” Salaniwal said.
To help his fellow peers, Salaniwal decided to start the Scripps Ranch Professional Career Club (SRPCEC) and enlisted the help of Ohayon.
“This club is aimed at students of any grade level that find themselves confused about what path they want to follow. I think choosing a career path is really daunting and I wanted to educate myself and those around me so that we are able to make the right choice for ourselves,” Salaniwal said.
Salaniwal and Ohayon set up a YouTube channel in which they interview professionals in different careers to aid those who find themselves lost.
They have interviewed a pediatric anesthesiologist and an electrical engineer who also teaches, for example.
The team planned to post interviews with these professionals about once or twice a month.
“The interviews that we post give our peers first-hand knowledge about these career paths. With these interviews, you get to see the parts of these careers that aren’t in a textbook or written. It’s the real experiences and trials of these professionals that help students who are unsure of what career they might want to go into,” Salaniwal said.
Not only does the club have a YouTube channel, but they also promote their interviews on their Instagram page @scrippsranch_careerexploration.
“On the Instagram page, we post about the interviews that we conducted. We also use the Instagram page as part of our outreach. We hope that people will see the page and watch the videos and learn, or that professionals see the page and are willing to be interviewed,” Ohayon said.
For Salaniwal and Ohayon, their main goal is to continue educating and inspiring others.
“As someone who is also trying to find the right career path, it just makes me happy to know that my word is getting out there. I want to be able to educate those around me because I know how difficult it can be to narrow down a career path,” Ohayon said.
Outside of the SRPCEC, Salaniwal plays water polo for SRHS as well as the club team Poway Valley and has also played piano for nine years.
At SRHS, Ohayon participates in Winterguard, plays sousaphone in the marching band and has been playing guitar for seven years.
“I feel like we’re all so stressed about what’s after high school or what’s coming next so, if we can just help clear that up and relieve some of that tension, that is our hope. If we get to see at least one person that is able to find their career path because of our work, then this is all worth it,” Ohayon said.
The team hopes to expand its outreach by using social media platforms.
To reach them, email srpcec@gmail.com. To keep up with the latest interviews, watch their YouTube channel at bit.ly/3sqHVNY.