As the class of 2025’s graduation draws near, students are set to finding the right college and career path. On October 27th, during seventh block Advisory, students headed over to the Walton Center to hold conversations with women who have made it big in their fields.

The panel consisted of fifteen women who have earned their PHD, Master’s, Bachelor’s in various fields. A maximum group of seven kids sat with one mentor and used the entire time to ask questions about how they got where they are and received tips on how to do the same.

“The mentor I got was Dr. Milly Mocodean. She was really sweet and insightful,” Sifan Hikssa said (’25), “I want to major in computer science and she recommended some great colleges with amazing programs.”

Dr. Milly Mocodean is a Senior Leader at Kaiser Permanente and serves the Southern California Region in the Organizational Effectiveness function. Thanks to her twenty years of work experience, she was able to provide students tips and tricks on how to stay mentally and physically healthy.

“Something that will always stick with me is that I shouldn’t sweat over the small stuff, I think that was probably the best piece of advice that Dr. Mocodean gave to me,” declared Hikssa (’25).

After the session, each table took a group picture to commemorate the experience. Apart from the picture, a mentor gifted their kids with a poster that they had gotten from a previous project they worked on.

But besides that, students are also grateful towards Ms. Bandy, Preuss’ College Advisor, who put together these sessions and gave the students the opportunity to have these conversations.

“Part of this opportunity was to allow students to explore different types of careers, because we know jobs like lawyer and doctor, but we want students to think about what kind of doctor or what kind of lawyer.” Ms. Bandy says.

Ms. Bandy wanted us, the students, to learn more about educational paths that we can take as graduation day comes near. This was an opportunity for everyone to see what’s out there and see what people do. She has confirmed that she is already planning something else for the class of 2025, which will be somewhat similar to this career exploration assembly.

At the end of the session, just before the students were dismissed to go to their next class, one of the mentors, Dr. Lisa Covington, left the Class of 2025 with a message just as powerful as her: “We are our parents’ wildest dreams come true.”