Friday afternoon was the much anticipated Careers Fair at Mulberry 6th form, organised by The Kiran Project.
It was an inspiring event with a range of strong, independent role models demonstrating the different career capacities for young women today. From an Occupational Therapist to a Producer at the Islam Channel, the professional women represented the paths one could pursue and recounted stories of their own experiences to try to inspire and guide the students in making the choices that were best for them.
“Follow your heart” is great advice but does not really help much when faced with A-levels and a world of possibilities you know nothing about. This careers fair, therefore, while still encouraging the girls to explore and follow their passions, also aimed to inform them on their options and to give them a balanced overview of what the future could hold if they applied themselves.
A policewoman noted that when she was younger, she did not realise there were so many choices and, especially coming from an Asian background, where there is a predominant trend of going into law, accountancy or medicine, sometimes the more creative or social industries are overlooked and even frowned upon.
The solicitor that Maslaha was stationed next to asserted how important it was that young women today realised all the opportunities ahead of them and that they embraced them. She mentioned how nothing like this was available when she was younger, as an ex pupil of Mulberry herself.
Maslaha fought the corner of social enterprise and charity work explaining in our brief encounters with the girls who approached us that essentially what we try to do is to make the world a better place.
“Everyone loves a good empowerment project” said one of the exemplary models of professional success. Indeed they do but Maslaha is so much more than that, I explained and then related our experience in health work – www.caringforyourheart.org - and education – www.thebookoftravels.org - to those who initially thought our work was irrelevant to their ambitions. As a comprehensive resource that tackles immediate social issues, we highlighted to the girls the different facets of charity work.
Those who clearly weren’t interested in social entrepreneurship, we directed to our I Can Be She website to watch the variety of interviews we had filmed. We hope this provides inspiration and support – check out www.icanbeshe.org to find out more.