Young Professionals Student Interview winners announced
Austin said the biggest thing she learned from Pender was improving on coming out of blocks.
“That was my very weakest point in track,” Austin said. “He brought up my time from how to come out of blocks, he worked on my drive phase, he made sure I was cleaned up and he worked on my whole 200 (meter).”
While maintaining Olympic aspirations, Austin said she’s attending Bryan College to pursue her goal of becoming an athletic trainer.
Austin said she will miss her teachers and friends. “They always recognize each and every person that was not only in a sport, but even outside of a sport; it could have been academics or anything,” Austin said. “(Also) all the love they gave me along the way and helped me all throughout high school.”
Austin’s drive stems from her religious beliefs and before any track meet, she remembers her faith.
“At any track meet that I had, before I go to my blocks, I’d always tell myself before I got down in them, that I could do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” Austin said. “It helped me through every track meet, helped me through every one of my races that I did.”
KCaulder@CalhounTimes.com
The Gordon County Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals committee recently announced the winners of its 2020 Student Interview event, all of whom will receive $500 college scholarships. The winners were Luke Peden of Calhoun High School, Jenson Sutton of GeorgiaCumberland Academy, Sierra Scott of Gordon Central High and Ben Stewart of Sonoraville High School.
One senior winner was selected from each of Gordon County’s local secondary schools. Young Professionals committee Chairman Will Harrison said they were chosen from a pool of eight to 10 competitors from each of those schools based on their performance during a 20-minute interview conducted by members of the committee.
In order to make the event completely fair, participating students were asked questions drawn from a predetermined list.
They were then evaluated by first impression, resume, professional dress, general attitude, content of answers and speaking ability. A rubric developed by Workplace Learning Connection was used for scoring purposes.
“The students come in dressed professionally to sit down with us and go through a series of questions that reflect what an actual job interview might be like,” Harrison said. “We ask them things like, ‘Are you a leader?’ or ‘What changes would you like to make in your high school?’ Sometimes we ask them to tell us about challenges they’ve faced at school. Students attending the same school are asked the same questions so that it remains fair for each of them.”
The Student Interview Event is one of the Young Professionals Committee’s signature programs and is held every year in the spring. Chamber Director of Communications Joni Harbin said the intention of the event is to “provide students with real world opportunities and presentation skills.”
“Our goal is to make sure these students are prepared for what they’ll see when they go into the real world after graduation,” Harrison said. “This event is a really good example of the kind of thing they’ll be doing every day in the workforce.”
The mission of the Gordon County Chamber of Commerce is to connect members and the community to promote economic growth.