Learning about their options

Veronica Duran

Verenice Garcia was wondering what she would do with the rest of

her life. She knew that sitting around waiting to discover the answer was

not really an option.

So Garcia, 17, and 10 other students in Costa Mesa, organized Camp

Excel/Summer Jobs for Youth. It’s designed to prepare economically and

educationally disadvantaged students for the job market.

“Getting to see what we want to do later in life is important,” said

Garcia, who plans to go into police work as part of a gang unit some day.

“I like to help ..., to keep gangs and violence off the streets so people

could be safe and secure.”

Camp Excel, which is run through the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District and the Youth Employment Service of the Harbor Area, is funded

through the Job Training Partnership Act.

The first part of the program involves placing youth in summer jobs in

private and public sectors to provide them with work experience and

marketable skills.

At the same time, the program gives employers the opportunity to

mentor young people in their career development. Employers participating

in the program include UCI, the Cosa Mesa Police Department and Rockwell

International.

On Thursday, the students organized a career day at the Costa Mesa

Neighborhood Community Center. Participants attended workshops and

listened to a panel of professionals talk about their jobs and what it

takes to get hired in their field. Steve Niedziela, one of the seven

panelists, shared his experiences as a mechanical engineer for

Disneyland.

In describing the way to see if someone might fit the description of

his position, he posed the question: “Have you ever felt like

straightening a frame in your house? If you answered yes, then you are

probably a good candidate for an engineer. And you have to like math,

lots of math.”

He left the students with this tip: “My career is exciting, yours can

be too!”

Other professionals on the panel included a flight attendant, a

battalion chief from the Costa Mesa Fire Department and a judge from the

Newport Harbor Justice Center.