Ben Davis students explore career choices through Ivy Tech program
INDIANAPOLIS (MIRROR INDY) — Sam Falope has a lot of interests.
He’s thinking about becoming an entrepreneur or maybe going into the medical field. He hosts a podcast called “What Up 2Day where he talks about pop culture with his co-host. He’s starting a clothing brand. On top of all that, Falope loves poetry and wants to run track at college after he graduates from high school.
“I’m a multiminded person,” said Falope, 14. “I think from everybody’s point of view and see that, ‘Hey, I can really do that.’”
Falope, an incoming freshman at Ben Davis, got a chance to take several of his interests for a test drive this week at Ivy Tech. He and other students are in TRIO Upward Bound, a joint venture through Ivy Tech and Ben Davis that provides career and college guidance for low-income, first-generation college and academically challenged high school students.
On June 17, they participated in career speed dating.
It’s part of the six-week Upward Bound summer school where Indianapolis community members from a variety of careers talked to students and provided insight into their professional paths. By the end, students spent at least two minutes at each table and learned about nearly a dozen jobs, from public health to tech to journalism — including from a representative of Free Press Indiana, Mirror Indy’s parent organization.
As Indiana education leaders explore how to integrate work experience into high school diplomas, high school students may be asked to spend more time thinking about their future careers.
“For a lot of our students, they are first generation students, and so college may not have been their first thing that they thought of as far as what’s next after high school,” said Loukisha Anderson, interim director of the TRIO Upward Bound program. “Our program is really geared towards providing them with those stepping stones and getting them familiarized with the college process.”
Upward Bound supporting students
Upward Bound is a nationwide program, where high schools partner with local colleges to support students who might otherwise fall through the cracks and not attend college.
Ben Davis and Ivy Tech’s program started in 2023, the newest in the Indianapolis area. With about 60 students, the program offers year-round support and guidance to ninth through 12th graders, from tutoring to college visits. In the summer, students attend the six-week program at Ivy Tech.
That support is crucial as Indiana looks to boost its struggling college going rate, which is acute for lower-income students. In 2022, just 39% of students who qualified for free or reduced lunch enrolled in college, as opposed to 60% of their higher-income peers.
The main goal, said Anderson, is to expose students to college early on so they feel like it’s an option for their future.
“We want to really make sure that they know about Ivy Tech,” Anderson said. “One of our initial goals is to connect them with careers so that they can graduate from our program here at Ivy Tech being ready to go straight into the workforce if they choose, or they might also choose to continue on to a four-year college after that.”
Choosing the right career is ‘overwhelming’
Kevin Rocha-Serna, an incoming senior at Ben Davis, has wanted to study psychology for as long as he can remember. People in his community open up to him, he said, and he thinks he has the right skills to listen and help people in the field of mental health.
But sometimes, Rocha-Serna said, it’s hard to concentrate on school and career goals with so much happening in the world or even with his own family.
“I know this is my main focus in life right now,” said Rocha-Serna, 17. “But we have all these other things going on. I can’t focus.”
Events like career speed dating, Rocha-Serna said, let him speak to people who have conquered the same hurdles. After talking with some of the professionals who came to Ivy Tech, he feels reassured that his chosen path is still what he wants to study — for now.
Some Ben Davis students, though, said they feel a little more nebulous about the future. Hayley Funez-Eastridge, a 17-year-old incoming senior, has always gotten good grades in science. But despite pressure from her teachers, she has no idea what she wants to study.
“I really don’t know what I’m gonna do, but everyone keeps on telling me, ‘This is your last year; you need to pick something,’” said Funez-Eastridge. “I have this fear of picking something, and then after I graduate, I start working and I don’t like it.”
As for Falope, he has so many interests that it’s really a matter of narrowing it down. Luckily, as an incoming freshman, he has lots of time to see how his future might shake out.
At this week’s event, Falope loved talking to representatives from WTHR-13 about the broadcasting business. He picked up some tips and tricks for his podcast. But then again, he might become an anesthesiologist.
“There’s a lot of things I want to do, so it is overwhelming,” Falope said. “But it’s also exciting to see how far I can expand my mind.”
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire at claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org or on social media @clairerafford.