Returning 2023 graduates of Cranston East High School converged in the library last week to offer their words of wisdom along with cookies and cocoa to outgoing seniors.           

At the event held January 5 in the CHSE Library, 60 graduates attended the event to speak on their diverse career paths and experiences. The majority of the alumni shared their journey of attending college while a few described their non-traditional paths.

Heidi Blais, the library media specialist at Cranston East, and one of the organizers of the event, touched upon just a few different pathways students have taken. Blais said,  “we have some pathways like plumbing and sound engineering and music, we have medical pathways, criminal justice.”

Mitchell Carpenter, a graduate and seaman apprentice for the United States Coast Guard and member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told of his military experience.

“The best thing about the military I would say is the sense of brotherhood,” he said. “The first week at boot camp, I made friends that I was closer with already than people “I’ve known for years. It doesn’t matter who you were before you join, you get there and there are millionaires, and then you have people sleeping in their car. Now, we have the same hair, we are all wearing the same clothes, and it’s a crazy bond like no other.

“One highlight from boot camp is when we got mail,” Carpenter continued. “It was really emotional, it was week three. You're just cut off from everything. The mail hit the floor in front of me, it was from my mom, and just tears.”

Carpenter stressed for seniors to keep their options open.

 “At first all I heard was college, from my teachers and my classmates. It felt really forced, that wasn’t what I wanted to do, I wanted to get hands on and get out there. That’s when I found the Coast Guard.”

Chloe Pacheco, who is enrolled at the University of New Hampshire, focused on the importance of building connections with others and communicating effectively.

“I would say the best thing so far about college is all the people you're going to meet,” said Pacheco. “Even if those relationships don’t last, you learn a lot from the people that you meet within those first couple of months. A helpful hint would be to establish communication so that your boundaries are set.”

Sylus Phang, who attends New England Tech for cyber security, reflected on his family and how they have been influential to his career journey.

“So I came from a family full of people that are into technology,” said Phang. “For example, my stepdad is a software engineer. My uncle is going into cyber security as well. And he kind of shifted me and made me want to continue the branch of going down the road with technology because I find it so interesting.”

“I wanted to be different, especially in my friend group,” he continued. “I loved the neuro tech campus and all their programs at New England Tech and cybersecurity really stood out to me as it is so important in today’s world.”

“My biggest takeaway is a lot of patience,” Phang said. “Also, there’s many things you can’t do by yourself. It takes a team to work together, and also if you are learning by yourself it takes a lot of time. You learn a lot of things throughout the journey, even during the beginning.”

 A freshman at American International College, Damon Asencio said  “Surround yourself with people that want the same as you, don’t hang out with people that want to party all the time if you want to be a doctor, or don’t hang out with people that want to do dumb things if you're actually looking to accomplish your goals,” said Acsencio.

After the presentation, Christopher Goodinson, a senior at Cranston East and member of Cranston East ROTC spoke with the Herald about his career plan after high school and how he is preparing for this new journey.

“My plan is to go into the National Guard, specifically the military police. They primarily help protect bases around the state, we can also get deployed to all units who are overseas,” said Goodinson.

Goodinson’s grandfather was in the Marines during Vietnam, which greatly influenced him towards this career path. Goodinson has already started physical training for his entrance into the National Guard. Goodinson proclaims “I’m already in that mindset, so finish the race you already started.”