Butler Middle student Cassie Hager couldn’t wait for a classroom door

to open.

“This is my dream career,” she said, pointing out that an exotic veterinarian was to speak. “It’s interesting to learn all about the different animals, their scales, their feathers, their fur. It would be fun.”

She, and other eighth-graders, rushed the door once it opened, eager to hear from veterinarian Scott Echols, one of about a dozen speakers who came to share about their jobs at the school’s career day. They ranged from industrial design and pediatric gastroenterology to mechanical engineering and a marriage and family therapist.

Through the presentation, students learned veterinarians are in high demand and not only work in clinics, but also aviaries; zoos; aquariums; with the police and military; in the wilderness with endangered species; in space with rodents; in labs, researching and developing medications for treatments; and many other areas.

“A lot of our time is spent understanding animals’ behavior so we can make sure we interact with it properly,” he said. “It helps us know the nature of a problem. Not everything is due to a medical issue, such as a wound or infection; sometimes they’re purely behavioral disorders.”

Echols intermixed stories of precautions taking care of venomous snakes to perils in Peru taking care of animals. He told how snakes are important part of the ecosystems, how bee colonies are collapsing and the work that is being done to treat bees, how pigeons provided courier service during World War I, how animals, including cows, can transmit bird flu to humans – and more – all while stressing the taking of STEM classes to pursue the field.

He answered questions about treating an octopus, sharks, rhinos, bees, scorpions and others, but the highlight of his talk, for many of the students, was seeing the short-tail python, an indigo snake, a red-foot tortoise, an alligator, a scorpion and other critters that he and a selected student took around the classroom so others could see. Cassie was asked to take around a plated lizard which nestled on her shoulder.

“I love going to work, because to me, it’s not even work. It is something I love to do,” Echols said. “Whatever it is you do in your future, make sure it’s something you love to do. I don’t care if it’s in finance or if it’s teaching or this or that. Make sure you love it because then it’s not a job. It’s something that you love, something
you enjoy.”

“I love how he implemented the importance of STEM in his career,” science teacher Erin Hemingway said. “He was inspiring for many of the students. It’s good they’re learning about possible STEM careers now because they will need to start to pick their classes for next year and look to take AP (advanced placement) and advanced science classes.”

School counselor Kayse Amevor said students rotated through three speakers, who gave them the overview of their professions, and often included the pros and cons of the career along with the education required and salary information.

“We asked students to write down two things they observed and one question they had about a career,” she said, indicating often students’ questions got answered at the end of every speaker, which kept them more engaged. “The kids are talking about this and seem to be interested in a number of careers that are being shared today.”

Across the hall from the veterinarian was Nathan Strong, who was talking to students about cell therapy.

“Millions of people in the country have back problems and that’s one of the things we’re helping to resolve,” he said. “As you get older, discs start to compress and it puts pressure on your spinal cord, which causes a lot of pain.”

Strong said through allogeneic cell therapy, cells are transplanted from one person to another, similar to organ
transplants. 

“We’ve already gone through phase one and phase two clinical trials, where the biggest adverse events that were reported was soreness of the injection site; there were no complications,” he said.

This would be a more economic as well safe alternative to back fusion.

“Back fusion is extremely painful and takes several months to recover, plus super expensive. We’re hoping to give people relief for two years or more, because our studies are still ongoing, at a much lower price,” Strong said.

Down the hall, Eddie Clayson, director of maintenance at Salt Lake International Airport, talked to students about overseeing maintenance crews, snow removal and security systems as well as other jobs at the airport.

“There are more jobs at an airport other than a pilot or a mechanic; Most of them, you have to graduate high school, but there’s anything from medical positions to firefighting,” he said, adding that the operations department works with the wildlife biologists to keep bird nesting away from the airport. “Remember when Donovan Mitchell and Jazz hit the pelican (in March 2021)? That pelican was way high. We work on the habitat so that they don’t want to be there, don’t want to migrate there.”

Part of Clayson’s job is to oversee the nine miles of baggage system conveyors, which grew when the airport expanded.

“Everyone wants their bags, so we make sure it’s working,” he said.

Students inquired about the safety of flying after three recent plane crashes — a mid-air collision above the Potamic River in Washington D.C., a medical jet in Philadelphia and the regional plane which flipped upon a fiery landing in Toronto — and how it impacts airport operations.

“Planes are super safe, but stuff does happen. After that, in general, people get nervous to fly although we haven’t seen any decrease. If we were to have a plane crash at our airport, it would shut runways down for a while, and that does affect us, because during that time, people aren’t flying, and they’re losing money because they can’t get to where they need to be,” Clayson said.

He said in the 31 years working at Salt Lake International, the worse accident he recalled was a plane sliding off a runway, with no injuries.

“We’re working hard to keep everything safe and to help people get to where they need to be,” Clayson said. “There’s a lot of people working together at the airport to make it happen.” λ