Expanding Your Horizons Conference introduces girls to variety of careers

A total of 342 middle school girls representing 17 area schools registered for the 2023 Expanding Your Horizons Conference at North Platte Community College Thursday.

Marilyn McGahan opened the activities with a keynote address about opportunities and choices.

“Don’t limit yourself, and don’t let anyone else limit you,” McGahan said. “Take advantage of the opportunities that are presented. It’s your choice but be prepared to bear the consequences of those decisions. The choices you make say a good deal about you. Before you can make choices about a career, you better know something about yourself.”

The students spent the rest of the morning rotating around to workshops - listening to presentations and participating in hands-on activities intended to introduce them to a variety of career fields.

Aviation, banking, chiropractic, computer coding, funeral directing and embalming, horticulture, entomology, law enforcement and drone flying were just some of the many professions the students could learn about.

Sessions were led by volunteers from 32 businesses, and most of the presenters were women.