In America there are close to 4,000 different colleges and universities with over 400 of those being in California. The Don Lugo Career Center is one of the places that is able to give you the resources and help to apply. From scholarships and FAFSA information to work permits the Don Lugo Career Center does it all to help you take the steps required towards your future.

When you first walk into the center you’ll see two counselors ready to help you with all of your college and career needs. There are brochures and flags for a multitude of colleges on the wall and posters that list the numerous ROP classes available, work opportunities and information on what’s coming up. Career center counselors such as Elena Hernandez can help you fill out work permits and FAFSA forms or apply for scholarships. Students have commented that the support they get from the center has made long and hard processes like work permits fly by or it has helped them find information they didn’t know was available before. 

According to counselor Elena Hernandez, a lot of students do find the career center for a multitude of reasons and we have a good mix of students that are focused on college and/or a career after highschool. They could be sent in by teachers, directed to come by their counselor or they could’ve found out about the career center through information sources such as the announcements or flyers. Whether you want to go into the armed forces or choose to take the college path after Lugo, the center offers options for both with recruiters and college presenters on campus multiple times throughout the year to help students get a feel for the process.

All year the Career Center offers college presentations for our students to learn about possible opportunities and colleges that can be in their future but there has been challenges getting steady attendance. Although some teachers for subjects such as history or government do bring their classes, this isn’t nearly enough to keep from sending some colleges back home due to a lack of students to present to.  

While information does go out, sometimes with their busy schedules and inbox flooding with emails, teachers don’t see the information until days later when their students can no longer use it. Additionally, a loud class talking over the announcements can prevent students from getting the information they were looking for as well. While the Career Center and others are trying to look for new ways to distribute information to our students, this is when the proactiveness of the students also comes into play to try and seek additional information. 

“Students have to be proactive, it’s one thing for the teachers and the staff to be proactive but it’s another thing for the students to be proactive for themselves. They have to want to do it,” quotes Elena Hernandez of the Career Center. 

She additionally states that students do have a lot on their plates and college can come up fast, but she recommends students come in as early as freshman year to get information and an outlook on their opportunities for both colleges and careers. This has been an advantage for Mariah Hodges, a sophomore at Don Lugo who has been able to use the career center to get information for AVID and dual enrollment showing how the career center can appeal to students who are still in their beginning stages of high school. She states, “The Career Center was beneficial to me because of all the flyers about different colleges and job options that I didn’t know were options after high school. Additionally guest speakers come in to talk about different colleges that can be beneficial in the future.”  

The Career Center holds an infinite amount of possibilities for our students so we should try our best to take advantage of them as early as possible. Being able to get the information out there and sharing it with our friends and family can help to spread the wealth and allow students to get information they might have missed as well. If you have something you’re looking for or a question about your future whether it be career or college based, take a visit to the career center and I bet they have your answer.

The Don Lugo Career Center can be found at room 62 across from the attendance window or you can check out their website for more information.