Bronxville News

A group of Bronxville High School students who are members of the Student Help Desk recently took a field trip to Samsung NEXT’s offices in New York City. They met with technology developers who discussed their career paths, shared insight about working in the field and provided the students with valuable advice about networking. 

“The trip was a really interesting and informative experience because it allowed me to have actual conversations with people in the tech industry, especially [working] or a company as big as Samsung,” sophomore Wyatt Spiegel said. “It was also interesting to see the real-life tech office workplace, which looks very different from the stereotypical cubicle office. The panel was also very informative because it assured us that technology is a really good career path and that it’s OK to experiment with different potential fields, and that we also don’t need to do coding to get into technology.”

Senior Mia Gradelski said she got a better understanding of how vast the field of technology is and the different paths one can take to achieve a career in technology. 

“The employees provided different aspects on their paths in the career network and taught me vital skills,” Gradelski said. “These skills include establishing key connections in the workforce, experimenting with new fields, and accepting that failure is a part of learning and that it is truly the only way to grow as an individual.”

Sophomore AJ Radik said he appreciated the career-focused field trip and the opportunity to speak one-on-one with several of the developers from Samsung NEXT, which provided him with valuable and useful insight from those working within industry. 

“Being someone who’s working towards a programming career, it was cool to see the type of office I could end up in and speak with employees who gave me a good sense of what I’d spend my time working on,” senior Nicole Semenyuk said. 

As members of the Student Help Desk, the students are equipped to support the entire district and assist their peers and teachers in resolving myriad technology issues. The program is designed to engage students in different aspects of technology and encourage them to be leaders and innovators in their school and greater community.

“One of the goals of the Student Help Desk is to have field trips that show authentic uses of technology in careers, as well as a variety of ways to use technology,” said Director of Technology Jennifer Forsberg, who organized the field trip with K-12 technology specialist Brad Ashley. 

Special thanks to Gus Warren, the General Manager of Samsung NEXT New York, Managing Director of Samsung NEXT Ventures and a Bronxville School parent, for hosting the students at his offices for the day.