Students take on real world connections

EAST COUNTY — Madelyn Kumar doesn’t want to wait until she graduates from college to experience life in the “real world.”

So, she didn’t.

Kumar visited her mother’s paralegal office last year to see for herself what a lawyer’s day looks like. The East County resident thought law school might be an option in the future.

Her mother’s quiet office in Sarasota wasn’t the social atmosphere she envisioned.

“It was a little disheartening in a way,” Kumar said. “The office seemed a little isolated, with not a lot of interaction. It wasn’t what I expected at all.”

The experience gave Kumar and 10 other students from Nolan Middle School and Braden River, Lakewood Ranch and Southeast high schools the idea for the next project their group, Manatee County Community Problem Solving Team, would tackle.

The group is part of The Future Problem Solving Program International program, which promotes critical and creative thinking in students in grades fourth through 12th.

Each year, the local problem solvers must address and “solve” a community problem or need.

This year, the group is helping its peers gain an understanding of potential career choices before they move on to college.

A couple of months ago, the local problem solvers launched Career Connections. Its website,

manateecareerconnections.com, is a resource to link students with mentors in a range of careers, such as education, health care and nonprofit fields.

The group will present the idea at the statewide Future Problem Solving Competition in Orlando in March.
But, to Kumar, the project is a sustainable outlet for high school students that means more to her team than just winning a prize.

“The competition is just the platform to promote this community service project,” Kumar said. “This is a unique and essential way to gain career experience and broaden your horizons, for students to not be afraid of trying something they thought might be out of their reach. Our project gives them the capability to do that.”

Career Connections is based on three elements: the online database, mentor system and career shadowing.

The database currently features careers with descriptions, college suggestions and high school classes to take to prepare for each field. So far, 50 students have signed up for the website.

To register, students just need a valid email address, phone number, username and password. Sign-up and all the website’s services are free.

The group’s website also relies on its mentoring system, which allows students to experience careers that interest them firsthand instead of just reading about them online.

The group’s goal is to give students an advantage in deciding what their future should look like, by giving them a glimpse earlier.

“I think high school is the perfect age for trying something like this program,” Kumar said.

Kumar’s team is still compiling a list of local professionals in each field. The website provides phone numbers and email addresses for each mentor, so students can arrange a meeting to discuss careers from those who know the jobs best.

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected]

Scholarship opportunity
Through mentor donations, the local problem solvers offer three scholarships to seniors pursuing a specific career. To qualify for the $1,000 scholarship or one of the two $500 scholarships, students must be seniors at a Manatee County school, use Career Connections to connect with a mentor, fill out a survey on the website and submit a 400-word maximum essay on the benefits of a mentor/ student relationship.

Send applications to [email protected] by April 10.