It is that time of the year again when underclassmen and seniors need to plan for their future. Project ARIES (Annual Registration Information Exploration Symposium), in its ninth year, was established to look at electives and other courses that will move them in the right direction for post-high school.

Project ARIES is “;a weeklong set of activities geared towards enabling students to make informed choices about course selections for next school year based on their academic and career interests,”; registrar Herman Leong said.

As part of Project ARIES, 77 guest speakers converged on campus to speak at the Career Fair on Nov. 18. “;The Career Fair is an annual schoolwide activity to provide Radford students a greater comprehensive view of the occupations they have shown interest in as well as introduce new careers they may never have considered,”; said Luz Guerrero, College and Career Resource Center coordinator. “;To ensure success, preparation usually begins at the beginning of the school year.”;

For more than a quarter, advisory classes worked on questionnaires and surveys to identify students' interests and potential career pathways. Pathways include business, natural resources, health services, arts and communication, public and human services, and industrial and engineering technology. Based on their pathways, students were placed in four sessions, each with a different career speaker.

“;Our students have a chance to listen and learn about 16 different careers before leaving high school,”; said Cindy Mochida, Career Technical Education and Discovery Center coordinator.

As much as Project ARIES targets underclassmen, it is important for seniors as well. “;Since I'm a senior,”; Kaleo Victorino said, “;the Career Fair helped me see what I can do after high school.”;

Another day was set aside for core and elective departments to show off what they have to offer at the Curriculum Fair, held in the gymnasium. “;Their displays give a good look into what happens in those classes,”; sophomore Robert Rideb said.

“;It provided students with an opportunity to see current students work displays, talk to these students about what the courses are like, as well as get teacher and counselor feedback about what courses would be best for them,”; Mochida said. “;We hope that students made excellent choices for the 2009-10 school year as their choices are such an important part of their current and future success.”;

Junior Deonson Leatimua is a first-year student at Radford. “;I learned about new classes, how the class is taught and what each has to offer,”; Leatimua said.

Another first-year student, freshman Naydean Diniega, said the Curriculum Fair opened her eyes to options she never considered: “;It really helped me choose what classes I want to take next year. ... I would've never thought of taking weight training, but after speaking to the teacher, it got me interested.”;

After a week of counseling, sharing information and recruiting students, Project ARIES concluded when students submitted their registration forms at the end of the week.

Due to the success of Project ARIES, Guerrero said that she is looking for companies who are interested in participating in a job shadow program. “;The Career Shadow is a structured program to provide students with an opportunity to spend a planned period of time, usually four to six hours, depending on the company, with a qualified person in the student's area of interest. Students have the chance to interview professionals and observe them on the job, thus becoming their shadow at the job site.”;