Fountain Valley Youths Connect With Mentors at 'Students in Business' Day

Students from all three Fountain Valley High Schools and Masuda Middle School packed the gym Thursday at Fountain Valley High to meet with mentors from the local business community at the Fountain Valley Chamber of Commerce's annual students in business day.

"Most kids today do not know what they want to do, so that's the purpose of them being here," Chamber CEO Beverly White said. "They're going to get a better perspective on what they're going to do. I think it's rewarding to the mentors to because they're sharing their knowledge. We want to hire students who are going to perhaps going to go into their businesses one day, and they can mentor them right through their business, and hopefully, they'll have someone to rely on."

Students were given the opportunity to meet face-to-face with professionals from dozens of fields, and also heard from speakers who emphasized the importance of education and job experience, and who provided some tips on how to make the right impressions on potential employers.

Fountain Valley City Council member Michael Vo was also on hand for the second straight year. He said his vision is to have students really connect with professionals and eventually use what they learn at the event to get internships and other professional experience.

"This is an important step to introduce students to the real business world," Vo said. "Most students go on and try to start a career, but they don't have any real idea what a doctor would do in a day or a chiropractor would do in a day or a Realtor would do in a day. I love this event because it's like speed dating for that. The students in one day, they can interview 20 different professionals. It gives them an idea, and hopefully they can learn from it."