20 Career Lessons From Those Under 20

I thought this week that I would share with you a program that you may or may not be aware we are a part of. The program is Top 20 Under 20, a national program that recognizes Canada's most innovative contributors to our society who also happen to be under the age of 20.
I was one of the judges and we are providing career assessments to each of the 20 young people. They are doing our Student Career Option Program, which is an in-depth analysis of their talents and passions through a unique process to point them in the right direction as far as education and career choices. It is one of the most exciting things that I have been a part of in a long time.

Here are some of the neat things that they have accomplished:

James Valitchka-age 10, Ottawa ON; wrote a best selling book "Superheroes Don't have Dads".
Shazeen Suleman-age18, Cambridge ON; Founder of MusicBox Children's Charity; helping children to learn music.
Michael Thibodeua-age17, Middleton NS; Founder of Musicians For Visually impaired.
Stephanie Subject-age18, Vancouver BC; started a program to deal with Youth Suicide and Drop out rates.
Gabriel Rodrique-age16, Sainte-Blandindine QC; founded his own internet marketing company.
Sarah Small-age 17, St. Johns NFLD; Inventor of Tea- rrific skin, an environmental-friendly product.
Shamin Mohammed Jr-age16, Toronto ON; started a children's AIDS health program.
Marne Beeston-age17, Hanna AB; Founder of Summer Slam,a music summer school.
Stephanie Dotto-age 18, Kirland QC; raised $35,000 for school in Malawi.
Ryan Hreljac-age 13, Kemptville ON; raised over 1million dollars for wells for 142 different projects.
Joseph Lavoie-age 8 , Queen Charlotte City B.C; started Joes Bottle Depot which collects over 1.5 million bottles per year.
Wojciech Grye-age 18, Thornhill ON; Founded Five minutes to Midnight ..a voice for youth on international issues.
Daniel Jammer-age 15, Kelowna BC; started Digger Boy a landscaping company.
Edona Caku-age 19, Toronto ON; Started a program to donate over 4000 books to her hometown in Albania.
Joseph Liu-age 16, Scarborough ON; Founder of SMARTs a mentoring program for technology and Science.
Cheryl Perera-age 19, Richmond Hill ON; worked in Sri Lanka dealing with child prostitution.
David Wen-age 17, Surrey BC; started If Your Away a workforce of young adults who do tasks when you are out.
Jasmine Tait-age 17, Ottawa ON; Inventor of a pens system for people with Tremors.
Florind Polo-age 17, Toronto ON; Founder of a student run initiative to protect children against violence.
Chelsea Takalo-age 19, Toronto ON; Co-Founder of SEYA a program for youth advocacy and political awareness.

During our workshop, one of the participants James said, "I can't wait to get out of bed, drink my milk and get on with my day". At the age of 10, James has a lot of things figured out. He's got the "TGIM"-Thank Goodness It's Monday mindset.

Check out the website www.Top20under20.ca and put your hands together for some young people who are accomplishing amazing things. You are never too young-nor too old.


Along the road with you...