Last Wednesday, Sept. 24, students in the Independent Student Mentorship program (ISM) went to Panther Creek High School to attend the ISM Symposium, an event where they talk to professionals and other ISM students to learn networking skills and prepare for the school year. ISM is a program where students learn to network with mentors to complete a project on a topic of their choosing, usually related to their career aspirations.
The event lasted from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., and consisted of individual sessions in which students practiced interviews, networked with industry professionals and other ISM students and were given detailed presentations about the timeline and different components of their ISM projects. This entails contacting professional mentors, doing research, producing an original work and giving a final presentation.
“I loved how the students were able to communicate with the actual professionals,” Josten Moreno, ISM teacher, said. “I think that is super valuable because that is a real world experience. I also liked how we have the alumni, students that were in ISM previous years that are now in college … coming back talking about how their experience in ISM has helped them throughout their life.”
As part of the informational presentations, students were shown examples of actual past ISM project presentations to give them a glimpse into what their own projects would actually look like.
“I feel like being around people in that environment who have the same ambitions [and] same goals to reach out … and find a mentor and have a final project … really helps students get in the mindset of … actually [achieving their] goal, even though it may seem so big,” Minseong Kim, 12, ISM 2 student, said.
Students in their second year of ISM additionally note that the environment this year felt a lot more open and talkative, with attendees more active in talking to each other and networking during the Symposium.
“I think the main difference was that the entire event felt a lot more conversational,” Kim said. “It felt more open. People were walking up to each other. People were actually talking compared to last year where it felt kind of stuffy.”
Returning students also recognize their own improvements in how they presented themselves, building off of feedback from last year.
“So last year with symposium, the interviewers gave me feedback saying that I sounded too scripted and almost too professional,” Bhavya Kallam, 12, ISM 2 student, said. “So this year I focused on seeming more conversational and more laid back. And I got feedback … that said that I did a lot better being more casual and making more eye contact.”
Overall, this event allowed students to improve their networking skills, get exposure to professionals and get a focused outline of the ISM program, preparing them for the rest of the class as well as future careers.
“Ultimately, I know a lot of students coming into the event might have felt a little bit of discomfort … and that is something that you’re going to face throughout your whole entire life,” Moreno said. “And … that discomfort will never go away. So I hope that by the end of the session, if anything, they got more comfortable with being [in] discomfort. “
