In the 34th Annual Career Expo, Cam High’s juniors and seniors were given the opportunity to view future employment options through dozens of booths and seasoned workers of various fields.

On March 22, hundreds of upperclassmen from five different schools in the Oxnard Union High School District (OUHSD) entered the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, where the career fair was hosted in two rooms filled with booths.

Senior Kalyce Willaims, heard about the event through Cam High’s librarian Ms. Heidi Resnik, and enjoyed the resources made available for students at the Expo. “It was very informative about different careers and how to get involved in those careers,” said Williams. Her personal standout was the Career Care Institute, “It was about nursing and how to get into hands-on training programs.”

Booths ranged from FBI attorneys to Ocean Forestry, where scientists strive to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and create renewable energy through reefs and kelp forests.

For those leaving high school and entering college directly, trade schools such as the Lu Ross Academy of Cosmetology strive to train the makeup artists of tomorrow. Local community colleges, such as Moorpark and Ventura, were both present to attract incoming freshmen.

Like many of the students, College and Career Center Technician Theresa Morales, had her first Expo experience. For her, the benefits of the Expo were abundant, “The positives were for students to get the opportunities to talk to different branches of career interest.”

Despite the overall praise, Morales did have alter some aspects of the Expo, such as having the event as a school trip. “The only thing that we were talking about was to get more students exposed to this; a lot of kids didn’t understand what it was or what it was really about. The other career techs and I were talking about making it more of a field trip since it was geared for mainly juniors and seniors. Hopefully everyone will be able to be involved, since for a lot of people it was a choice if you wanted to go or not.”

Oxnard College’s culinary program did not attend this year, despite having a constant presence at previous Expos. The Ventura County Court of Higher Law also dropped at the last minute.