High school students’ career orientation and arts camp

Tenth and twelfth-grade students from the Traian Vuia Vocational High School, Ion Vlasiu Technological High School and Avram Iancu Technological High School participated in a career orientation and arts camp. The series of workshops were organized by Caritas Alba Iulia`s Counselling Program for Further Education and Career Guidance and the Youth for Change project at the Emerald Hotel in Tîrgu-Mureș in between the 30th of October – 2nd of November. The youth mentors arranged the event to introduce high school students who are nearing graduation to further educational opportunities and to outline suitable career paths for their skills. For this purpose, they organized university and company visits, street dance workshops and lectures by company executives, along with artistic workshops.

First day
The introduction was aided by dog-themed picture cards, which depicted various emotional states of the animals. The students had to choose the card that best reflected their current mood. While justifying their choices, they also outlined their expectations towards the workshops and themselves. Blindfolded, they walked along a real rope that led towards their imaginary goals. Volunteers accompanied them, while distracting and discouraging voices haunted them. They successfully overcame the obstacles. Perhaps later, they thought back with astonishment to their experiences during the „Rope Course” game. Maybe they became aware of real life situations where the discouraging environment managed to demoralize them, or recognized the dangers of future obstacles.

After lunch, it was revealed: there would be no dinner unless the young people prepared it themselves. The organizers divided them into three groups and sent them shopping. One group had to buy meat, another group the ingredients for side dishes and the third group the ingredients for dessert. The meeting took place at the Caritas House. The first group grilled chicken breasts in the courtyard, the second group seasoned potatoes and stuffed mushrooms with cottage cheese in the kitchen, while the third group soaked ladyfingers in coffee in the dining room. Cooking brought them together as they were cheerful, chatting and joking. By evening, they were as lively as sparkling wine. They enjoyed the food. They carried with them the taste of the delicacies and the memory of an eventful day.

Second day
„Please, don’t stop the music!” – Rihanna’s hit song echoed at ten o’clock in the Blessed Dance Studio. Adél Bery, a street dance instructor, held a dance class for the young people. It started with a warm-up, followed by practicing simple steps and choreographies that seemed easy. As the muscles relaxed, the movements became lighter and dancing became more enjoyable. Some thought it wasn’t for them, but there were those who expressed interest in attending a longer course. The dance instructor encouraged the teenagers to dare to pursue their dreams, to work for them, to be patient and persistent, even though success might come later than expected. Finally, Dorottya Szőcs and Norbert Berei, participants of the camp’s communication group, conducted an interview with the dance instructor, in which she talked about her career journey.

Brainstorming, scriptwriting, scene creation, theater and film were the topics of a workshop led by Róbert Csaba Szabó and József László for a smaller group of young people during the camp. Parallel to this, Levente Kiss led a drum workshop where the pulsating rhythms of „ti-ti-tá” and other beats swept away the high school students who loved music. In the dining room, students created a collage about themselves under the guidance of Gabriella Fábián, while the events of the day were followed by the members of the communication group with cameras and smartphones in hand.

After this, they went to a university visit. Young people learned about various training opportunities Sapientia EMTE had to offer. The professors of the university presented the Communication and Public Relations, Public Health Services and Policies, Automation and Applied Informatics and Translator and Interpreter faculties, engaging participants in interactive games. The robots were interesting, the library was soothing and the evening view was captivating.

Third day
The students listened to a lecture by Zsolt Szathmáry, CEO of Saint Georgius Manager Club. They tried to create together the portraits of the ideal manager and employee, but while they started to list their qualities, it became clear to them that there is no such thing that an ideal manager or an ideal employee. However, what do exist, indeed, are: the individual’s personality traits, abilities, level of education, determination and willingness to take action. The leader stated that it is credible and trustworthy if an applicant appears in comfortable attire at a job interview, especially if the wearing of a business suit is not typical for them. The same applies to behavior: it is disappointing if someone pretends to be someone they are not, and this becomes apparent in the first few days. For teenagers, the most exciting and inspiring information was that the manager started his career by selling watermelons.

In the remaining part of the day, students completed their creations. They finished the short film scenes, the collages, the Facebook posts, the short film edited from three recordings and the video album of the camp events. In the afternoon, high school students visited the FOMCO Group company. They liked that they were received professionally, their hosts were well prepared and organized. They were surprised by the multitude of industries with which the company’s employees dealt. They were mostly impressed by the „Success Pyramid”, which reminds the visitor every day of all the activities that need to be done on that particular day, in that year and in the upcoming period in order to achieve their goals by 2025.

After discussing the daily events, young people enjoyed a special dinner at Casa Petrina Restaurant, where their liveliness and good mood only increased.

Fourth day
They woke up happily in the morning, but there was a slight sadness in the air. The closely knit group found it difficult to think about going home. The morning was a good opportunity for them to present their creations to each other. The participants of the drum workshop cheered up their peers with a short rhythm exercise. The short film scenes created by the screenwriting group were greatly appreciated: laughter, loud opinions on each other’s performances and applause accompanied the screening. They also enjoyed the photos and videos taken by the communication team. The photos captured the creative artworks of the participants in the arts workshop. After viewing the works, young people reported on their experiences of the practices. Many of them stepped out of their comfort zones when trying out new activities. Some received affirmations regarding their talents, while for others, it became clear that they do not have a talent for certain areas. It was surprising for many of them to realize how much work goes into a few minutes of scenes or conducting an interview.

Article by: Júlia Orbán
Translated by: Karola Bartos-Siposs

The camp was supported by the City Hall of Tîrgu-Mureș and the European Union.