Over World Language Week, BSM asked working professionals to come into school during lunch periods to talk to them about how they use different languages in their fields of work, and to help guide students about their future career options.

In doing this, BSM is trying to encourage their students to keep taking world languages as it might help them in the future. “Since it is part of the World Language Week events Ms. Murray, the organizer of the event, chose people who she knew used their language skills in their work, and those she knew had experience in dealing with people who don’t speak English, ” Ms. Megan Hansen, a Spanish teacher, said.

For this, BSM choose professionals from all different occupations, such as Mel Ikola, a Marriage and Family Therapist, who focuses her help on trauma suffered in Native American populations, or Andhi Michaux, a Chief HR Officer at Garda Capital Partners, an asset management firm specializing in global investment alternative strategies with offices in Minneapolis, New York, Geneva, and Copenhagen. Along with Priya Outar, a client relationship manager at Thomson Reuters. All of whom use the language skills they learned in school in their work today.

Students who attended heard about why the speakers chose to go into the profession they are in, how they see different languages being used each day at their workplace, and how they see the futures of their careers. “As the years pass now everything is becoming global, even on a small scale. You are going to have to speak different languages. Especially on the business side, so many deals are done globally so having those skills is really important,” Michaux, one of the speakers, said.

By talking to working professionals about their workforce experiences students are able to plan their future more. And by talking to professionals who use multiple languages in their jobs, students are encouraged to spend more time on their language, especially as being bilingual is a sought after trait in the workforce. “In all of their very different jobs they all use language skills so it was cool to compare how they use language in their job to how I might use my Spanish skills in my future job,” Lauren Copeland, a senior who spent their lunch listening to the speakers, said.