Back in eighth grade, students went through several processes to try and get into North Point’s Science, Technology, and Industry programs. Receiving that acceptance letter meant that they were one step closer to the “real world.” Now that they are here, are their programs what they thought they would be?

Deidre Miller’s (’13) goal is to be a pediatric cardiologist, which is why she is in Health Occupations. The program has successfully benefited her and fulfilled the expectations that she had back when she applied. “It is a lot better then I what I thought it would be, and has a whole lot more opportunities than I expected,” said Miller. “I know I am going to be ahead of the game when it comes to continuing education and it helps me stand out from everyone else on applications.”

A similar example of a student like Miller is Darence Harris (’13). He is in the Criminal Justice program, but does not want to be in law enforcement. Harris said, “I want to be a lawyer and I can get the law aspect of it.” Harris still found a way to train for what he wants to do in the future. He was able to take certain pieces away from what he learned and apply it to what he plans to do in the future. “I get the law training. [So] when I am in court and if I ever have to testify against a cop, I know what to expect of them. I know what they should and should not do,” he explained.

There are students whose program is not what they thought it would be. Raenah Coggins (’13), an Electronics student, is one of them. She said, “I honestly did not know what to expect when I signed up for it because it was not my first choice, Cisco was.” She continued, “I was hoping that it was going to be very hands on, like building robots and computers. I did not expect to work with any programming, either, but I found it to be fun, so it was a nice surprise.” Coggins actually ended up learning something new. “I know more about what I like and do not like about electronics, so I know what I want to major in. For example, after learning more about programming and computers, I want to pursue the field of computer engineering,” she said.  Even though her original expectations were not fulfilled, she found out what she really wanted to do after high school, which worked out even better.

No two students have the same experience with their STI. Some go in completely sure of their careers; others do not realize exactly what they want until their program helps them figure it out. Either way, the STI program has a benefit in some way.