Classroom to Career Q&A: Featuring Stanley, high school junior

Classroom to Career: Real People, Real Answers is an interview series that dives into how students and teachers think about career readiness, careers, and future goals. I decided to ask questions about career choices, AI, remote work, and identity because many young people today may feel pressure when planning for the future, while also still discovering who they are. By interviewing students and a teacher, I wanted to compare different perspectives on how career preparation and life experiences shape confidence and future goals. Through this series, I hope readers can better understand the challenges young people face today and the importance of career readiness, self-discovery, and mentorship. The first interview is with Stanley, a junior at South Bronx Community Charter High School.

- Justin, STC intern

What future career do you envision for yourself, and why?

I think anywhere in business, I think I wouldn’t mind doing, mostly because that is something very similar to what I am doing right now as a project coordinator for CareerWise New York. But a passion of mine is to get into psychology, therapy, or social work so that's probably what I'm going to go to college for. But if that doesn't work out for me, then I’ll definitely look at business

If you could choose a career for your parents, what career would you choose for them, and why? If they already have careers, do you feel those careers reflect who they are as people?

I think my mom never really did much for her career but I do know my dad...he does work in a lot of construction and  a lot of housing, lots of stuff that's like carpentry and whatnot. That's all I ever saw him doing.

Would you rather work remotely or in-person? And I know you do both, but what do you prefer?

I would much rather work in person, as much as I don’t like getting out the house. I feel like I get more done inside the workplace. I feel like I have an image to push up, I feel like I’m more focused in-person, and I am able to work better in a more serious setting. 

Do you think AI will impact your future career?

Maybe. Me personally, I am not really for AI use. I hope not, I really hope AI doesn't affect whatever I do but if it does, then it's probably going to be for the worse. [Like] taking aspects of my job, making stuff that I want to do less needed because of AI, are some of the fears I have. But other than that, I really don’t care what AI does.