By Helena Savage

Junior Mary Black wasted no time in searching information about aviation and X-Space Management careers for the Air Force to pursue her dream careers. Black expressed that she wants to pursue this career because “I had experience through Civil Air Patrol, which is auxiliary to the United States Air Force, so I have flown, and it’s interesting,” she said.

Black had the pleasure of speaking with Woody Angle, an attorney, at the SCA sponsored Power Breakfast on Feb. 27 that took place during advisory block. The Power Breakfast allowed students to explore different career options, and inquire about the profession that they are considering for the future through an interactive breakfast.

Black learned many important values and skills talking to her chosen professional. “He taught me a lot about the importance of networking, which is something I actually started applying last weekend, as I started collecting business cards at a dinner I went to,” said Black. Black found that the Power Breakfast was a fundamental and successful way for her to explore career options. “I think that no matter what career you’re pursuing getting to talk with someone who is a professional, who’s been to college, and has had work experience can tell you about things that apply overall to what it takes to become a business leader,” she said.

Virginia Beach is an entrepreneurial area with a broad variety of businesses, and PA is located near Town Center–the heart of many growing businesses seeking out future employees. The Power Breakfast met the expectations of many endeavoring students including junior Chris Kunze, who aspires to become a lawyer in the future.

“Because I’ve always been interested in the law and the legal field and I like to debate and argue a lot, I think that will be a good position for me,” said Kunze.

“I had the unique opportunity of talking to a business lawyer (Kristen Jurjevich),” said Kunze. “She was able to describe some of the specific fields of being a lawyer to help me refine my career path, and see what type of lawyer I might want to be in the future.” This was the first Power Breakfast held at PA, and it allowed students to connect with the real world, form a perception of what they might do after high school, and begin to design a career path.

Junior Bella Cruz also found the Power Breakfast to be a fun and beneficial way for her to seek out more information about her career aspiration, which is either in the medical field or the architectural field.

“I have been interested in architecture because I have always loved art and design, and I am stuck between those two major areas,” said Cruz. “I spoke with Crayton Barnes and he works for Clark Nexson [located in Town Center], and he is the IT specialist, but he was able to tell me that how he works with architects, and how he is the communicator between them and the engineers.”

Cruz also found that the businesspeople at the Power Breakfast were personable and could relate to the high schoolers stressed and worried about the future.

“He was very helpful in the way that he understood our positions because he also had those same anxieties going into the work field,” said Cruz. “He didn’t know what he wanted to do, and that gave me personally and the rest of my table comfort in knowing that it’s okay, we don’t need to know exactly where we are going to go yet.”

One piece of advice Cruz remembered from her professional was that it is okay to be indecisive with a career choice and to focus on finding her passion.