Back in “the” day, I helped my parents run a nursery school in our hometown. That was, for me, about 13 years ago. Other than my 4 year-old nephew that was probably the last time I had any major interaction with kids . . . until today.

Today, I attended a Lunch ‘n Learn at the Henry James Middle School in Simsbury, Connecticut. Folks from the local Chamber were brought in to sit with four groups of kids and talk about their career experiences. The event was pretty cut and dry: we sit down with a group of kids during their lunch time (about 20 minutes) and talk about ourselves and impart any wisdom on choosing a career path, what it’s like in the real world and, well, you get the idea.

My tables went like this:
1) ALL GIRLS: The first group I chose was all girls. I’d forgotten what it was like in middle school - girls to the right, boys to the left. This goes for walking down the hall, dances, lunches and anything that requires mingling. This table was a group of talkative friends who all knew exactly what they wanted to be in life (as of today) and were not shy about asking questions. They picked up handwritten questions from the bucket on the table (an excellent idea for ice breakers) and also chimed in with their own. This group was more interested in where I went to college than my career path but for the most part they seemed to be engaged with talking about both their career interests and mine. Easy first group!

2) ALL GIRLS AGAIN: This group had a variety of quiets and talkies. I enjoyed this conversation as well because these girls really wanted to know things about how my day went and why I do what I do. These girls were great about talking about their interests: actress, writer, nurse, dancer, forensic scientist (although this girl was a bit embarrassed by this choice for some reason), psychologist and child advocate. Lots of “my mom” or someone that has influenced their life was dropped in reference to why they are choosing what they are choosing. You really do forget how much of an impact you have on the young minds around you until you hear them talk about their own future.

3) ALL BOYS: Oh boy. This group was a small group because as they said, “we just don’t have that many friends.” These guys were not exactly speech-barren but they didn’t really offer up too much to say, except for the jokesters of the bunch who gave me fake answers to questions. I kept it casual with these guys and tried to ask questions about what they like. Lots of answers included “boring” and shrugs of shoulders. I also tried to be as unintimidating as possible, being a girl, but who knows if I succeeded or not. Hanging with the boys is a complete 180 from girls. And hanging with a mix was a bigger switch . . .

4) THE MIX: My last group was 4 girls and 3 boys. This is the bunch of jokesters that I would’ve hung out with in school. You have to be thick-skinned and sharp-tongued to sit at this table. There was no keeping on topic or keeping serious at any minute. They were humoring me because I was at the table but, other than that, they can pretty much make a good time all on their own. Good stuff.

In general the questions were along these areas: “why do you do what you do? how did you choose this line of work? where did you go to college/what did you major in?” The best question came from one of the cards on the table: “what has been your best and worst experience in your career?” That was a tough one to do on the fly. And, I’m kicking myself a bit because I didn’t have enough stories. I shared a few but I wish I had a few more that would’ve kept them engaged more. Well, maybe next year.

All in all, I really enjoyed this event. It was casual and free form. The kids that sat with me hopefully enjoyed the conversation and if I was able to impart anything, I hope it was the one philosophy that I live by: Whatever you do, choose something you love that plays on your strengths. If it starts to be something you hate, take the best parts of what you’ve learned and get something better.

Thanks for the day kids - that was a much needed break!