Workviews August Panel: A Recap

Last week, Y4 and Y5 students participated in the second edition of the workviews. The first time, each individual could choose which talk they wanted to hear based on their personal interest. Now, they all listened to the same panelists.

The aim of this event was to show students different career paths that may not be commonly considered. Although the students could not adapt the workviews to their personal taste, the issues dealt with could be helpful for multiple career paths, even if they were not strictly related to what the panelists do for a living.

Therefore, each panelist was specifically chosen for the unique perspective they could provide. Our school invited Álvaro Azofra, Gonzalo Moratorio and Valentina Quagliotti as the speakers.

Gonzalo Moratiorio was the first professional to speak about his experience. He is a biologist who works in the “Instituto Pasteur de Montevideo” and has done incredible work during the pandemic to ensure the country’s access to PCR testing. Among his areas of study, we can find virology, evolutionary biology, experimental evolution of viruses, genetic engineering, and cellular and molecular biology. During his speech, Gonzalo explained his work and commented on the path that led him to choose his career.

Then, Valentina Quagliotti told us about her journey with social work and the adversities she faced along the way. Valentina is the director of “Ikusi”, an organization dedicated to communicating the problems of non-profit organizations in Uruguay. Through different journalism tools, such as video and photography, they aim to tell real stories about real people.

Finally, Álvaro Azofra spoke about his career and how this one developed through time. As co-founder of Ironhide Game Studio and Vice President of CAVI (Camara de Videojuegos del Uruguay), his work consists of designing various types of video games. After explaining how he started his first projects, Álvaro gave advice on how to start your career journey.

Once the speakers finished with their presentations, time was dedicated to answering any questions. The students reflected on what they had learned and showed their interest through their inquiries.

We wanted to know more about the workviews from the perspective of the students, especially on how useful they were. Therefore, we interviewed two students, Rosario Abó from Y4 and Emma Ibarra from Y5 who participated in the event.

1. Did you find the workviews useful?

E: Yes, I think they were useful and really enjoyed learning about different career paths.

R: I found work views very useful due to the fact that it gave us a real point of view of the world

2. What was your favourite aspect of the workviews?

E: I really liked that the guests could share an experience different from their careers, and resembling the message of doing what you want will always get better results

R: We could ask questions directly to the professionals that were speaking to us.

3. Is there something you would change?

E: I would make the question and answer part quicker, since the speakers sometimes took more time than needed and fewer people had the opportunity to ask.

R: I would have preferred that in this instance we met directly in person, that was unfortunate but overall I really liked it and I found it really enjoyable.

4. Which speaker did you enjoy the most? Why?

E: The speaker I enjoyed the most was Valentina. I thought her experience was very interesting and gave me more knowledge about an area I am interested in.

R: The speaker I enjoyed the most was Doctor Gonzalo Moratorio because I’m interested in medicine and biology.

5. Were they related to your plans for the future?

E: Yes, Valentina was related to my plans because she is an entrepreneur, and I’m interested in creating my own business too.

R: Yes, Gonzalo was related because I want to be a doctor