Career Exploration in High School: Stepping Outside of Your Comfort Zone

Miss CEO
3 min readJun 27, 2020

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By Hannah Maryam, 2019–2020 Miss CEO Ambassador and student at Monta Vista High School

As an anxious freshman entering high school, I was surrounded by friends and classmates who had already developed a general idea of what they wanted to study in college and had a sense of clarity regarding what career fields they wanted to go into. When it came to choosing courses and extracurricular activities for the upcoming year, they barely had to think twice. Unlike them, I experienced difficulty deciding what courses to take and remember feeling uneasy at the thought that I truly had no idea what career I was interested in and was afraid I wouldn’t come to that realization any time soon.

Fast forward three years and I have never been more sure of what career pathway I want to pursue. However, it most definitely was not a realization that came easily, but rather one that came through several long hours spent engaging in extracurricular activities, networking with industry professionals, researching different career pathways, and being involved with Miss CEO.

Participating in activities beyond required academic courses is an excellent way to explore your interests and find out what you are truly passionate about. There are highly valuable experiences that come along with joining organizations, clubs, and programs because it gives you the opportunity to apply your academic learnings to the real world. You are able to gain exposure to different careers and industries while learning how to integrate your skills into professional opportunities.

At the beginning of high school, many of my peers encouraged me to explore the variety of clubs offered at my school to see if there was anything in particular that I would connect with. Being quite introverted at the time, this was something that was definitely a little out of my comfort zone. I was hesitant to try out non-STEM related clubs such as Speech & Debate and DECA, because they strayed away from the typical STEM-related clubs my friends were joining. However, I decided that it was time to broaden my horizons.

Throughout my first year of DECA, I was exposed to the industries of hospitality and tourism, marketing, entrepreneurship, finance, and business administration, and learned a lot about these different clusters through networking with industry professionals at the state, district, and international conferences. Qualifying for the DECA International Career Development Conference in April 2019 made me realize that the efforts I made to get that far were fueled from the passion that I had developed for business. Eventually, this passion gave me the strength to completely step out of my comfort zone and become my school chapter’s Director of Operations Research, and now Vice President of Competitions.

In early October 2019, I attended the Miss CEO Career Exploration Day at The Tech Interactive and had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with several industry professionals at multiple networking stations. Speaking with these individuals was extremely eye-opening as they not only shared their experiences in their fields, but they also offered valuable information regarding building my resume, looking for company internships, high school advice, and insight into career options. Through these conversations, I learned how to further develop my leadership skills as well as the large role that these skills play when working in the professional world.

Coming into high school as a reserved individual with little knowledge of career pathways, I never would have thought that I would become a leader in my school community and find my passion for business along the way. Stepping out of my comfort zone was an essential step in realizing where my true interests lie. As daunting as having a leadership role or applying for an internship may seem at first, the experiences that you gain will ultimately give you the confidence to explore your interests and help you discover what career field you truly are passionate about.

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Miss CEO

Miss CEO delivers world-class leadership training, mentorship, and career exploration opportunities to young women and early-career professionals.