Children Explore Careers at Smith Event

Elementary schoolchildren grimaced and peered through their fingers when a biomedical engineer showed them excerpts from a laser surgery video. Then they sat up and oohed when the same speaker introduced them to a robot that allows doctors to treat patients remotely. Similar scenes played out in multiple classrooms May 1, 2015, during Career Day at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

The event, organized by the Center for Social Value Creation, served about 200 fourth- and fifth-graders from nearby JoAnn LeLeck Elementary School at Broad Acres in Silver Spring, Md. Besides the biomedical presentation by Richard Constantineau from Washington Adventist Hospital, students met a police officer, systems engineer, theater director, website designer, Latino studies professor and accountant from KPMG.

Undergraduate students also shared educational advice and talked about the college experience. UMD junior Johanna Amaya fielded questions in Spanish. Another student, senior Nick Bondura, talked about the importance of playing sports. He said he made many friends recently when his UMD team advanced to the Final Four at the U.S. Quidditch World Cup, an event inspired by the Harry Potter series. 

Most speakers shared the sentiments of Washington, D.C., police officer Keenan Gallagher. “Helping people is the most rewarding thing you can ever do,” he told the children.

- Daryl James, Office of Marketing Communications