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Chatham native Meghan Creed is making a name for herself, earning awards for research into addiction and its impact on the brain.
Creed grew up in Chatham, and now at 30 years of age, she is an assistant professor of pharmacology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and has two serious awards under her belt.
And what made her want to be a scientist? Career Day in Grade 2 at McNaughton Public School when a scientist came in to talk to her class about genetically engineered corn. Creed also credits her supportive high school science teachers with helping her on her path.
This is a young woman who knew what she wanted at an early age, thanks to Career Day. What would happen if more people would come forward to inspire and mentor our young women in careers in the younger grades?
Organizations such as Junior Achievement have an excellent one-day seminar for young women at high school age that opens up many ideas and links them with women who are active in that career. Is high school age too late, though?
Many young people would benefit from career mentoring before they hit high school so that by the time they get there, they might have a career path already lined up and will know what courses they need to achieve their goal.
Creed knew as young as Grade 2, so why not have more programs in the schools that link professionals with kids and give them a simple look of what that career looks like?
The high school co-op program is another great idea that gives young people an idea how they may like a certain job, and we need more of those kinds of programs at a younger age.
Traditional jobs such as being a nurse or firefighter or teacher are ones our kids know lots about. It would be great to expose them to other jobs like the different types of engineering careers available or eco-tourism or how to self-publish a novel.
There is so much opportunity out there for our teens and we expect them to make those decisions at age 17. We are kicking them out on their own earlier, so it is high time we help them discover their interests at an earlier age as well.
