Brooklyn private independent school

Upper Schoolers Explore Careers at Annual Symposium

Upper Schoolers Explore Careers

Freshmen, sophomores and juniors learned about different fields of work on June 3 at BC's second annual Career Symposium.

Dan Porter, a BC parent and head of digital at William Morris Endeavor, gave this year's keynote address — "Why you shouldn't know what you want to be when you grow up" — in which he spoke about his own unpredictable career.

"Try as many different things as possible because that's the only way you're going to figure out what you want to do," he said.

Students then heard from nearly 30 other BC parents, alumni and faculty on nine different panels — Arts and Fashion; Business Education, Marketing and Real Estate Development; Education, Public Service and Development; Psychology, Speech Pathology and Sports Medicine; Law and Activism; Medicine, Engineering and Technology; Public Relations, Entrepreneurship and Consulting; Sports and Media; and Writing, Publishing and Documentary Filmmaking.

See more photos.

Full List of Panelists

Keynote address: "Why you shouldn't know what you want to be when you grow up"
- Dan Porter - Head of Digital, William Morris Endeavor

Arts and Fashion
- Rafael Sanchez - Performance Artist and BC English Teacher
- Manju Shandler - Artist and Theatre Designer
- Michael Singer '05 - Planning Mangaer, Victoria's Secret International Group

Business Education, Marketing and Real Estate Development
- Dr. Joel H. Steckel - Faculty and Administrator, NYU Stern School of Business
- Rebecca Grossman-Cohen '99 - Vice President, Consumer Marketing, New York Times
- Martin Dunn - Founder and President, Dunn Development Corp.

Education, Public Service and Development
- Scott Rubin, BC Science Department Chair and former Peace Corps volunteer
- Jennifer Jones Austin - CEO and Executive Director of FPWA, an anti-poverty policy agency and advocacy organization
- Lauren Arana '97 - Director, Individual Giving, Brooklyn Public Library

Psychology, Speech Pathology and Sports Medicine
- Belinda Bellet, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist, Founder and Director, Brooklyn Heights Behavioral Associates
- Trish Peifer-Arens, M.S., CCC-SLP, Director of Speech and Hearing Center, Pace University
- Tony Ellis, DPT, M.S., Clinical Director, Orthopedic Rehabilitation and Sports Performance Programs, Physio Wellness NYC LLC

Law and Activism
- Ana Bermúdez, Esq. - Commissioner, NYC Department of Probation
- Paul M. Gamble Sr. - Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Trials, New York City Police Department
- Dorothy Q. Thomas - Principal, Red Dirt Road Productions, LCC, Strategies and resources for collective social impact

Medicine, Engineering and Technology
- Dara Kass, M.D., Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine NYU Langone Medical Center; Editor-in-Chief, www.feminem.org
- Danielle Regis '11 - Embedded Systems Software Developer
- Steven Johnson - Author, TV Host

Public Relations, Entrepreneurship and Consulting
- Sarah Hall - President, Sarah Hall Productions Public Relations, Inc.
- Yadin Shemmer, President, Consumer Division, EverydayHealth
- Michael Martin - Partner, Talent, Rewards & Performance Consulting, Aon Hewitt

Sports and Media
- Anthony J. Pardo '02, Manager of Client Services, Major League Baseball Advanced Media
- Kate Lewis, SVP/Editorial Director, Hearst Magazines Digital Media
- Aaron Radin '87, SVP, Partnerships and Portfolio Products, NBCUniversal

Writing, Publishing and Documentary Filmmaking
- David Shenk, Author
- Vanessa Friedman, Fashion Director and Critic, New York Times and INYT
- JP Olsen, Proudction Executive at HBO; Adjunct Professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism