KELLY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- High school students have big decisions to make when it comes to deciding between college, trade school, or the workforce. An event near Lewisburg on Wednesday helped some teenage girls prepare for that decision.
Around 100 teenage girls gathered inside the ballroom at the Silver Moon Banquet Hall near Lewisburg. They were not there for a party, they were there for the Young Women's Future Symposium. It's an annual event held by Junior Achievement of South Central PA.
"It's just a really powerful and inspiring day for the girls," Betsi Zikmund said.
The girls are sophomores and juniors in high schools throughout central Pennsylvania. They are in the academic middle of their classes.
"They are girls who the guidance counselors feel would benefit from spending a day with somebody who is helping them get self-confidence, build self-esteem, just be able to really feel good about themselves," Zikmund said.
"This is an awesome experience. It gives me a lot of background on something I want to do after high school," Talle Troupe said.
One of the sessions was career explorations, where the girls are divided into groups based on their interests. They sit with career mentors, including Newswatch 16's Nikki Krize, who spoke with some of the girls about journalism.
"I got to talk to a nurse that works at Geisinger and a physician. She has her own practice and works in a hospital, so I got a lot of great information," Troupe said.
Not all of the girls who come to this event know what they want to do when they get out of high school, so this event helps them connect with women in all kinds of fields.
"I think it's a really good opportunity because I'm not really sure what I want to do for a career yet, so just to be able to explore different careers, and get an idea of that," Masy Devlin said.
The young women learned how to write a resume, dress professionally for the job they want, and what to do on a job interview.