February 26, 2004
Careers for Guys breaks from tradition
Conference examines non-traditional careers in human services and health related fields
By
Herald staff writer
The presenters at last week's "Careers for Guys" conference at the TBA-ISD Career Tech Center all had one thing in common - a real passion for their career.
The focus of the conference, held for area 10th and 11th-grade young men, was to spotlight men working in non-traditional careers - those in which 25 percent or less of positions are filled by a male. Speakers were professionals in the human services and health related fields, including a kindergarten teacher, substance abuse therapist and pre-primary teacher.
"When you find out what you are passionate about, everything else falls into place. When you get something back from a job, it makes it worthwhile," said Career Tech Center assistant principal Brent Boerema.
"I never in a million years would have seen myself living in Traverse City and doing what I'm doing, but things happen for a reason," noted Boerema, who earned a degree in marketing at Central Michigan University before returning to school to pursue a master's degree in education and a career that led him to his position at the Career Tech Center.
Reni Dengel, an early childhood educator at Traverse Heights Elementary, never saw himself working with young children before an opportunity for a scholarship in pre-primary education fell in his lap.
"I consider it a happy accident. I was pretty much the only guy in the field when I started out. After 25 years, there still aren't many guys in the field," Dengel said.
"You get back so much love, it gives you a real satisfaction, making connections with the children. It is what has kept me going for all these years. It makes going to work everyday worthwhile," said Dengel who works with children from two to six-years-old, most of whom have a disability.
Nate Plumb, a graduate of Traverse City Central High School, shares Dengel's enthusiasm for a career involving young children.
"I must admit, I was looking for an easy way out when I took a teacher cadet class in high school, but I found out I really liked it. It wasn't something I had ever given much thought to, but now I can't imagine a better career," said Plumb, a second-year kindergarten teacher in Kalkaska.
"There is nothing more rewarding than going home at the end of the day, feeling like you made a difference," Plumb said.
Substance abuse counselor Jamie Lohr also knows the gratification of feeling like his job can make a difference. He credits people believing in him as a young man as the key to his success.
"By the blessings of some teachers who cared about me, I graduated from high school. I thought success meant big houses and new cars. I eventually decided to go into social work because of an interest survey I took even though it wasn't the idea of what I had thought a career should be," said Lohr, who works at Munson Medical Center.
"My opportunities have just continued to expand, you just need to be open to them," Lohr noted.
Being open to opportunities is exactly what the seminar was about.
"I don't know exactly what I want to do, maybe something in the law enforcement area, but they gave me some ideas that I had never really thought about before, you never know," said Brent Gilley, a junior from Elk Rapids.