Charting Our Course: Launch 2022 Virtual Conference

“What are you going to be when you grow up?”; a question that follows every student throughout the course of their academic career. It is asked first in the kindergarten classroom, where it is answered with lighthearted dreams and bright smiles. Then, a few years later, when a thoughtful remark and shrug become the most common response. It at last surfaces in high school, only to be met with a weighty response or a stressed glance. This comes as no surprise. Choosing a career path forward is perhaps the most difficult decision to make as a young adult.

In order to help students gain clarity in this endeavor, three school boards in Ontario developed a post-secondary pathway exploration virtual conference for grade 11 and 12s. The Ottawa Carleton District School Board, the Ottawa Catholic School Board and the Halton District School Board worked in association with the Ontario Council for Technology Education to organize their third annual Launch event on November 2nd & 3rd, 2022.

Born during the pandemic, the event sought to address the shortage of live, accessible information about options after high school. Its reach has expanded to new heights every year—which this time hit a record 16,000 logins from across Ontario. Those that attended had the chance to visit 92 exhibitor booths from places like Algonquin College, Cambrian College, St. Laurence College, Laurentian University, University of Waterloo, Carleton University, York University, McMaster University, CanGap, Discover Year, industry representatives and more. They could also attend a selection of the 88 workshops on topics from scholarships to careers in the trades to gap year programs. Additional resources could be found in a online vault rich with videos and documents from the presenters. Jennifer Coleman, Principal in the OCDSB, described Launch to students as “a day about you, designed for you, based on your needs, your wants, your feedback and your voice”.

A memorable session was presented by Sam Demma, a 22-year-old author, keynote speaker, and founded of Empty Your Backpack. Back for the second year in a row, he gave yet another interactive speech on the importance of setting and pursuing personal goals. Sam shared a story of learning how to dance during a family vacation to Costa Rica. Though he faced negative feedback, his own embarrassment and an unfamiliar environment, his motivation carried him through to achieving his goal. That was his message to the audience, that “if we never take the time to empty our backpacks, then we end up living a life that’s not even ours, based on someone else’s opinion”.

One of the students attending the conference for the second time was grade 12 student Demetra Sotiropoulos. Overall, she felt that it was a good well-organized event. However, the experience and the sessions available were very similar to Launch 2021, so she admitted that it felt a little redundant. “I would probably recommend Launch for someone who is in the earlier process of post-secondary exploration. There are presentations that cover a lot of ground and diverse options. But if you’re more or less sure on your path, I don’t think Launch offers a lot of new information that you can’t get at school other than some good contacts.”

Her advice for future events is to potentially improve some aspect of engagement, especially amongst the second-time attendees. “If there’s something ‘new’, I think it could attract more participation.”

Veronica Kleinsmith from Ontario Council for Technology Education closed this year’s Launch conference with an important message to students: “It’s okay to try something new, and it’s okay to change your mind about it”. This post-secondary decision might seem like a straight track forwards, but everyone’s path has different twists and turns up ahead—and each is unique.