Career Paths & Creative Writing with Gráinne O'Brien

Our Year 10 students were very fortunate to have a fantastic virtual visit with best-selling author and award-winning bookseller Gráinne O'Brien in the library.

It was a great experience because on a base level, Year 10s simply do not get to engage as much in the library as Year 7-9, they have less author visits and less time to come in with their English teachers, so I was really able to promote this special event for them in a fun way and to ensure that they understood this was a unique event for them. 

However, This was not a typical author visit in that my primary goal was to have the students meet someone to discuss their career path and essentially how they ended up where they did. 

The reason I run these programmes, which I call the "Professional Zoom Series" is that there is research to prove that exposure to career paths enriches their school experience and developed more positive attitudes towards the utility of school in general.

Career counsellors and fairs are important in my opinion, but it is rare that students can sit in a quiet atmosphere and meet a professional who has gone through the experience of high school, university and then went seeking for something that felt like the right thing to do.

It's easy for me to stand in front of the students and tell them my experience. However, if you work in schools or libraries you will know that bringing in new voices is critical for engaging what can sometimes be apathetic viewpoints on the part of some youth.

That is why bringing in a voice like Gráinne's was so special because the students were able to listen to her career path from working in Silicon Valley to becoming an award-winning bookseller and author in her home country of Ireland. 

So often, students are told to think about their career paths, especially at this age, yet they are often only actually hearing from a very narrow set of voices. This series, which I'm expanding to Years 11-13, is an informal way to connect students to other career choices.

I strongly recommend booking Gráinne for a visit with your students. If you wish to do so, you can email her at grainne@rontuliteraryservice.com.