March 24 brought a bustling crowd into the impending mess hall of the library. 39 speakers were present, all with different stories. Some of the stories started, from the same seat as students today.

            Tammy Kenyon, a mental health case worker for the Dupage county health department, graduated in the year 1995, almost 14 years ago. She was at the top of her class, and says she had a “positive experience.”

            “I really enjoyed Mrs. Robertson, she’s who I had for Honors history.”

            She also had Mrs. Hocker for Chemistry Honors. She was an active member of National Honors society, and recalls being ambitious: she always knew she was going to be involved with psychiatry.

            For those who want to follow her career she says,

            “Know that it requires a lot of patience and understanding and sensitivity [to work with] mental health and any kind of social work. No matter what population you are working with, those are always imperatives. It requires a lot of hard work, but [it] is definitely rewarding.”

            She was only one of the three valedictorians that attended Bloom Trail. The others were siblings.

            Along with Bloom Trail Alumni, there were also representatives of World renowned names. One of such was the manager of the company Pitney Bowes. Pitney Bowes is a famous postal meter company that does business with 130 different countries and has over 35000 employees.

            Pitney Bowes representative Bruce Kabat, says,

            “We are an outsourcing company. We fall under the category of outsourcing; this means companies and law firms will hire my company to work for them. We provide support services like faxing and digital print.”

            Kabat says he got started when Pitney Bowes offered him a job. He was currently part of a law firm that they had hired.

            “They asked me to join their company, made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and the rest is history.”

            Also among the crowds were firefighters, lawyers and a chemist. It was a truly impressive show, but what did students think?

            Sophomore Tomica Dickerson says, “It was okay, I guess. I couldn’t understand some of it, and they talked like I should’ve. But to be honest, it was, like, way over our heads.”

            All in all, it was a great day to be out of class and learn about the real world from the seats of a familiar classroom. Even if it was only for a day.