AUSD Virtual Career Fair 2020
As we went into Distance Learning the day after our District Career Fair was cancelled, none of us knew what to expect. During the time of shelter, many in our community have come together (virtually or in accordance to proper social distancing parameters) to help and give to others. We are delighted to showcase some of the amazing virtual speakers who have given their time to share their experiences with you all.
If you were unable to attend the virtual event, all of the Zoom events were recorded and uploaded online for later viewing. With the exception of one event that had technical difficulties and thus, unable to record, all Zoom meetings are below. Enjoy and know that there are so many of us rooting for your success.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.
Recap of Distance Learning Virtual Zoom Series
Wednesday, April 8 - 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
Dr. Annie Zhujiang, raised in Southern California since she was a child, obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and subsequently her Doctor of Dental Medicine from Harvard School of Dental Medicine. She continued on with advanced training in the field of Endodontics at Columbia University. Dr. Zhujiang will be sharing her educational journey and will have a Q&A session afterwards.
Polly R, 11th MKHS, Thank you Dr. Zhujiang so much for your presentation! It really helped open my view about potential careers in the medical field in the future. I found your presentation to be extremely informative and interesting. Thank you for the career advice as well! Take care!
Zina T, 11th MKHS, Thank you Ms. An for organizing this! I love how we can still have these career speakers present to us even in these times. Thank you for always working so hard for us!
Friday, April 17 - 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM - Attached 1 photo from the online ZOOM
OPTOMETRIST
Amy Wen grew up in Minnesota, went to undergrad in St Louis, and will shortly be graduating from the UC Berkeley School of Optometry (May 2020 Grad). She will practice optometry in Chicago after graduating. Like many other optometry students she took a gap year between college and optometry school to work in an optometry office. She was premed for the first 2 years of college before switching to pre-optometry.
PEDIATRICIAN
Lisa Luu is a general pediatrician who graduated from Mark Keppel High School with special interest in working with underserved populations- immigrant communities and LGBTQI. She is the first physician in her family, and she has been in practice for 2 years now. Prior to medical school, she worked as a hospital lab assistant, lab assistant, tutor, and restaurant server.
NURSE PRACTITIONER
Barbara Ngai shares how she went from Mark Keppel High School Aztec to RN to NP. A Nurse Practitioner (NP) is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse who has additional responsibilities for administering patient care than RNs. NPs can prescribe medication, examine patients, diagnose illnesses, and provide treatment, much like physicians do.
PHARMACIST
Dr. Tracy Truong has always had a passion for helping people, and wanted a career that would focus on that. After completing her bachelors at Austin College in Sherman, TX, she went on to Nashville, TN to complete her doctorate in pharmacy and was offered a pharmacy manager position at Walgreens pharmacy, where she plans to implement changes to help her patients lead happy and healthy lives.
Whitney V, 10th MKHS, "All of the speakers seemed to know what they were talking about and were very honest on their journey to get to the place they are now. The most useful or most memorable was that they all stated something related to wanting to be a certain profession at first, but eventually, learned more about themselves and decided to make the hard decision not to become that original profession rather than just "dealing" with it their whole life which is very inspiring. This was a very nice zoom call and I definitely feel like I know more about the careers that are in this call, but overall, it was very inspirational when all of the speakers did share that they all chose their own path and that they continued to push on even if things were against them. In the end, thank you and stay safe!"
Wed, 4/29/20 - 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Software Engineer
Cynthia Ma is a Software Engineer at Zendesk. She graduated from Mark Keppel High School and went to UCLA where she earned degrees in Chemical Engineering and a Master's in Education. She was a Chemistry and Physics teacher for several years in South Central Los Angeles before deciding to change careers. She attended App Academy to learn coding and became a coding instructor there. Thereafter, Cynthia landed as position as a Software Engineer at Zendesk. In her spare time, she enjoys watching anime, learning to cook different recipes, and snowboarding.
Software Engineer
Nancy Truong is a front end software developer which means that she builds and maintains websites. She uses Javascript, React and Redux in her daily work and she loves creating smooth customer experiences for people around the world. She got sucked into computer science when she took the AP Comp Sci class in high school & fell in love with figuring out code and how it works.
Civil Engineering Associate
Nikki Zulueta is a full time civil engineer at the Bureau of Engineering in Downtown Los Angeles. She works in geotechnical engineering which consists of providing soil recommendations for buildings. A majority of her time is spent working on construction sites overseeing earthwork, foundation design, and field investigations.
Software Engineer
Andee Liao is currently a Software Engineer @ Afresh Technologies, where they use machine learning to reduce food waste. She has a passion for social projects and a love of building community. In her spare time she dances, cooks and hits the gym.
Tyler C, 9th MKHS, "I really appreciate Ms.An for hosting this meeting and I want to thank all of the speakers for the great amount of info you presented today. I have written down notes of all the things discussed and will gladly carry this info throughout my high school life. This greatly impacted my recent thoughts about these careers and pathways. Thank you again for sharing your knowledge and helping me be able to judge my path and I am now very interested in software engineering!"
Michelle Lee is 2nd grade teacher from Irvine Unified and has been teaching for 8 years. She loves kids and is committed to creating a classroom community of independent, life long learners who value building their character while pursuing high achievement in academics! Michelle heads her school's afterschool running team called Stonegate Striders. When she isn't teaching, she enjoys baking, playing with her cat, watching the Lakers, drinking boba milk tea, and hosting Game Nights with her friends.
Michelle, 11th grader at MKHS, T"he way she so clearly laid out her educational path to getting to where she is as a teacher was very useful. I also found her life advice very valuable as it gave me a lot to think about. It was super informative, and especially as a junior going on senior, I’ve been thinking a lot about college and what I want to do in life, and being a teacher/music teacher was something I’ve always been interested in pursuing, but when I think about the path to get there it’s always kind of been a cloud of confusion, so highlighting the education it took to get to where you are was super clear and informative. I also loved the stories shared, and it gave me a lot of food for thought. I loved the optimism and organization, and to be honest it was probably one of the most informative ZOOM meetings I’ve participated in since distance learning. Thank you for giving us your time."
Kevin Felix Chan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Best Delegate, an education company that provides Model United Nations programs worldwide. He has taught in 20 countries and introduced the United Nations Secretary-General at the UN General Assembly Hall. Kevin is a graduate of UCLA. He's also the Chair of the EO Accelerator, which helps companies scale past $1 million in revenue, and a Board member of ACE NextGen, a national group of Asian-American entrepreneurs.
Katie L, MKHS, "I definitely appreciate the fact that I was able to ask my own question targeted towards myself and the business that I'm trying to start up and how to market myself/brand and get really insightful feedback and will be able to implement it back into my own work. Thank you Ms. An for always going out of your way to pave a path of success for us!"
No Recording due to Technical Difficulties
Wednesday, April 22 - 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
Ms. Doan Phan is currently an attorney with McGuireWoods LLP, specializing in corporate bankruptcy. Prior to her position as attorney, she clerked for a bankruptcy judge in Alexandria, VA. She has a dog, writes in her spare time, and is an avid boxer.
Mindy Hoang, 9th grade SGHS, "Thank you, Ms. Phan for taking your time out of your day to share your experiences and advice to us. It was really interesting to see different aspects of being a lawyer. It also helped me learn a lot more as well. Thank you for hosting the event Ms. An. This meeting was very helpful for new insight of potential career options."
Additional Resources
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