By Kahner Pierce

On Thursday September 26, 2019, an event called the “Find Your Path” Chamber Mixer was held at SPC Tarpon Springs Campus. This event was held in the Fine Arts building, including a variety of local business owners and a complementary lunch. The Chamber Mixer was advertised as a way to find your career path by meeting with different businesses, while also providing complementary refreshments to the involved students.

Walking into the event, it was overwhelming. Many people were crowding the different booths. There was an average of sixteen companies coming to promote their businesses. After signing the sign in sheet, I was handed a brochure of questions to ask the different advisors at the booths, like “How did you get into this industry?” and “What do you want to see on a resume?”. After talking to a few of the representatives, they spread good words of wisdom. A representative named Jeff from the Democratic Club stated, “I would enjoy if more college students would become involved in the voting community”.  Another representative from RE/MAX Elite also stated, “Starting out with a job in your career before you graduate is the right path to take.” There was amazing advice that these business advisors were passing around.

As advertised, a free complementary lunch and snacks were provided. As the food was starting to make a presence, more students that attended SPC were starting to file into the Fine Arts building. An SPC student even stated, “I mainly came for the food; that’s why I attend the SPC events”. Surprisingly that’s how many students felt while attending this event. Coming to the booth with the snacks, all students had to do was show their SPC ID to an event coordinator, and the food was theirs.

Although there were countless amazing opportunities at the Chamber Mixer, there were also a handful of downfalls. When walking into the FA building, it was very overwhelming and overcrowded. Many different booth representatives were not at their booths but instead they were walking around to other booths. This made it difficult to talk to all the representatives from the different booths. Lastly a few of the representatives seemed very shy and almost unapproachable. This also made the experience a little difficult, having to walk up and speak to adults that did not seem very interested.

About three quarters of the way through the event, some of the booths were starting to pack up and head out. One booth in particular, RE/MAX Elite, walked up to myself and stated, “It is a great thing that you have come here for the student newspaper; we are proud to hear that a student is willing to write about the event that we attended. Great job”. This was very encouraging to see that our society is encouraging our fellow students and peers to better themselves!

Attending this event opened my eyes to society. With many of the representatives being uplifting and delightful, it helped time pass by quickly. With the free advice and complementary lunch provided, this experience was great! The Student Chamber Mixer is a great way to mix with local businesses and converse with the representatives that have been in our shoes!