Through the American Graduate project WFSU is hosting a series of professional networking lunches for students at Ghazvini Learning Center. Once a month, 32 students are selected to attend the lunch and meet professionals from the community and learn firsthand what it takes to work in a particular profession. Students have the opportunity to have lunch with and ask questions of one of eight professionals representing different career paths.

American Graduate "helps students create the framework to fulfill a vision of success."

The 2012 events are scheduled as follows:

• January 25^th: Healthcare
• February 22^nd: Criminal justice & law enforcement
• March 28^th: Public service and nonprofit
• April 25^th: Arts, Communication & entertainment
• May 23^rd: Business and entrepreneurs

"It is important to know the difference between a dream and a vision," said Tallahassee, Florida Mayor John Marks during one of the lunches. "After you have a vision, you must lay a framework; the American Graduate project helps students create the framework to fulfill a vision of success."

Students have shared that they have learned “to push on towards your goal even when there are obstacles,” and the series "makes me happy to hear from people that love their careers.”

Leah Dienger, the teacher at Ghazvini who oversees the project commented, “The American Graduate professional lunch series has been an excellent way to connect students to their community and to a myriad of professions that they might have never known existed. Watching high school students light up when they hear a professional speak and share their passion in a particular career indicates that students have connected to the idea that having a profession is “cool” and is something to be attained at all costs.”