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STREAM event at Seton LaSalle gets students dreaming big

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 7 min read
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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Ryan Allen talked to students in the classroom after an assembly on STREAM-related careers. The Seton-La Salle alumnus is a biochemistry graduate student at Emory University.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Katie Bench enthuses about her career as a systems engineer at First Energy’s Beaver Valley Power Station.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Olivia Kisker and Nicholas Sywyj react to a question from a student posed to the panel during the STREAM in ACTION assembly held at Seton-La Salle High School. Alumni talked to students about excelling in STREAM careers.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Nicholas Sywyj engages the Seton LaSalle student body with advice on college, tuition, career and life choices during an assembly about STREAM in ACTION. Sywyj is a research and development engineer for Goodyear. However, he is considering shifting gears and heading to medical school to become a doctor.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Ryan Allen is a biochemistry graduate student at Emory University.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Seton LaSalle alumni Ryan Allen, Katie Bench, Jon Doctorick, Olivia Kisker and Nicholas Sywyj served on a panel that addressed to the student body how to excel in STREAM-related careers.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Jon Doctorick explains to students how instrumental his education at Seton LaSalle was in helping to forge his career. He is the technical and education manager of the Fab Lab at the Carnegie Science Center. Doctorick, Katie Bench and Olivia Kisker were among a half dozen alumni sharing their experiences with current students who also hope to excel in STREAM related careers.

The future, particularly regarding occupations in the science, technology, engineering and math as well as the arts and religion, was the hot topic at Seton LaSalle High School recently as the past met the present in a candid debate.

Today’s students heard from alumni how they are excelling in their careers during the STREAM in ACTION program in December organized by faculty members and school officials.

The alumni, which included Olivia Kisker, a cyber security engineer at Booz Allen Hamilton, Katie Bench, a systems engineer at First Energy’s Beaver Valley Power Station, Jon Doctorick, a technical and education manager in the Carnegie Science Center’s Fab Lab, Ryan Allen, a biochemistry graduate student at Emory University, and Nicholas Sywyj, a research and development engineer at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Ohio, participated in the panel discussion with students while Paul Stumpf, who is an aerospace engineer for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, and Claire Harris, a photographer, skyped in from California and Australia respectively. After the morning assembly, students interacted with the alumni on a more personal level in their classrooms.

According to Principal Lauren Martin, the Catholic high school in Mt. Lebanon chose to feature recent graduates who, due to their proximity in age, were highly relatable to students.

“Students can see the classes alumni took and the way they are applying that knowledge in their careers,” Martin said.

Seeing living examples of what students, who have walked in their footsteps and are achieving whatever goals they, too, share, was hugely beneficial, added Michael Gianoutsos. The Director of Innovation at SLS helped organize the assembly which celebrated the alumni and their successes in the different disciplines of Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts and Math.

“It is one thing to read about your heroes and people doing things in the news and on the internet and through social media but it’s another thing to meet them face to face, especially someone that went to your own high school and have taken the same classes and have had some of the same teachers that you have had,” he said.

“We really wanted our alumni to share their personal experiences. Going to school and being in an educational atmosphere is one thing but getting out there in the field and hearing real world stories and how their education is applied was a key portion. We want (our students) to walk away with a good feeling and an understanding of and an excitement of what is out there for them in the real world.”

Lisa Osterhaus, president of Seton LaSalle High School, shared the same sentiments and said the hope was that the students could see the opportunities ahead of them.

“They are endless,” she said. “They have so much potential and they have to go out and make their own path in the world. We are here to help them get a great education. What they do with it is up to them when the leave here. They have so much opportunity to go out and change the world and make it a different place. A better place.”

Kelly Bench and Kyle Killen, both from McMurray, as well as Faith Kisker of Mt. Lebanon, plan to do exactly that.

Kisker plans to major in biochemistry, attend medical school and become a doctor. While undecided regarding her college choice, because she has “applied everywhere, including Villanova, where her brother, Grayson, studies, Kisker’s dream school is Johns Hopkins.

Kisker viewed the assembly as constructive. She felt the alumni provided a clear picture regarding a future beyond school.

“In high school you are thinking the next step is college and that’s great but what happens after college,” she said. “What happens when you have to go out in the “real world” and find a job. It’s nice to see past student alumni that have done that.”

The alumni also opened her eyes regarding STEM careers.

“They are far more expansive than what people usually think that they are. They think, ‘oh a doctor, a lawyer, basic careers, but today we saw a large variety stemming from simple majors like engineering or information technology.”

Bench agreed with Kisker. A highly-involved student – she belongs to NHS and the English National Honor Society, as well as fall drama, musical and lacrosse while maintaining a 5.2 GPA – she hopes to attend Penn State. She is considering engineering or psychology for her course load.

“I thought the discussion was really important for a lot of people to hear and talk about because there is a lot of promotion of STEM and STREAM but not a lot of detail provided,” she said. “People are told to go into those fields but they are not really told the logistics or the realistic side of it. Such as what the work life is actually like and things like what skills they are going to need to go into those fields, not just the education side but what other areas that are necessary to be in those fields.”

Bench’s biggest takeaway from the lecture was that a lot more goes into STREAM programs than science and math.

“Now there are a lot of things that you can be interested in,” she added. “You don’t have to be just good at calculus or chemistry to go into those fields,” she said. “If you have a passion for it, then you can do things like that. Or if you are not good at those things, but you are good at people skills, or you have a lot of talent of that nature, then you still can help with those fields. You can still be a part of the process and not necessarily have all the same sort of skills that you think you might need.”

While the alumni spoke about the people that inspired them most in their careers, citing past educators at SLS among them, Bench found Sywyj’s story and advice most compelling of the panel. She said she enjoyed his candid remarks, especially since she already knew him.

“I think it really important that people see that it’s not all about money and that what you are choosing to do right now isn’t what you have to do for the rest of your life,” Bench said. “You still have options. You still are a young person who has a lot of opportunities out there. He was a great example of that.”

Killen agreed that Sywyj’s words were poignant. He especially liked the fact that “Nick didn’t lie to us” and that he was was “real and honest” in talking about his life experiences.

“Nick told us that nothing is guaranteed in this life and that we need to keep working for it,” Killen said. “But, we also need to not worry about it and be ourselves, be happy people and not worry about the uncertainties of life.”

The future is indeed uncertain for Killen. He has four options for college: Point Park, Robert Morris, Washington & Jefferson and Duquesne. The SLS student council president is considering majoring in marketing or accounting.

“I am going off to college next year and I am worried about what’s ahead of me and what’s in front of me. That is why what Nick had to say was so personal to me. He addressed things that I was thinking about. To know that somebody has been there before and they were thinking the same things that I was and that they are now in a position that they are successful,” he said.

“It made me feel comfort.”

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