More than 250 Year 5 school students from Hervey Bay and Maryborough discovered a future filled with exciting career possibilities at USC’s Fraser Coast campus today.

USC staged the Explore Expo along with exhibitors from TAFE Queensland, Fraser Coast Regional Council and the Queensland Police Service to allow the 10 and 11-year-olds to join in hands-on demonstrations of a wide range of occupations.

It included the chance to experience jobs as animal ecologists, scientists, nurses, lawyers, marketers, high performance athletes, mechanics, police officers and hairdressers.”

USC Widening Participation Project Officer Annie Colless said research had shown Year 5 was the optimum age to encourage children to start planning their careers.

“The Explore Expo helps these young students raise their ambitions by learning about just some of the many professional and educational choices open to them when they finish school,” she said.

The expo is held in conjunction with three weeks of classroom activities built around career development and is funded through the Federal Government’s Higher Education Participation and Partnership Program.

It forms part of a suite of USC programs for primary and secondary school students to build aspirations to go on to higher education.

For information on studying at USC go to www.usc.edu.au/learn

— Clare McKay