Barely four months ago the Guidance Counselors of Zamboanga Sibugay in collaboration with DepEd, DOLE, DOST and the LGUs roll out the Career Guidance Advocacy Activities to the 77 secondary schools of the province. On November 05, 2014 the last leg of the Career Advocacy Activities was held at Talusan, Zamboanga Sibugay.

The event was the second career coaching event conducted on the island of Olutanga, dubbed as ISLANDER CAREER FESTIVAL 2014 and hosted by the Municipality of Talusan. All 7 public high schools from the three municipalities in the island (Mabuhay, Olutanga, Talusan) participated in the event with a total of 1,121 people in attendance in which there were 864 students, 155 parents, 18 Guidance Counselors, 15 resource speakers, 39 teachers and 30 guests.

The goals of the advocacy is to provide career guidance to students to help them discover their strengths, weaknesses, and inclinations in choosing their career path. They were also provided with relevant labor market information to develop awareness of the current industry needs that fit with their interests. Parents were also involved in this activity as they also attended the learning session on "Supporting their Children's Career Choice".

The whole day affair started with a very colorful parade around the town center of Talusan participated by the 7 schools delegation and ended at the Municipal Gym. It was then followed by the Opening Program.

Mayor Orlando A. Ramiso of Talusan in his message, represented by Vice-Mayor Edmundo M. Catingub, sent his congratulations to the Guidance Counselors Association, DepEd and DOLE for holding a relevant activity that helps high school students in choosing a career. He was also pleased by the support given by LGU Olutanga and LGU Mabuhay which provided for the transportation of their students in going to the venue and back to their places. The local business establishments, religious and civic organizations who were also made as resource speakers in the learning sessions, as well as the police force that provided for the security.

The Career Festival was also graced by DOLE Assistant Regional Director, Albert E. Gutib. In his message ARD Gutib committed to sustain the partnership of the DOLE to the Career Guidance Career Advocacy Program by providing reliable and updated Labor Market Information to increase consciousness of students on the available jobs in the labor market which is in lined with their needs and interests.

The presence of DepEd Sibugay Assistant Schools Division Superintendent, Julito Fernandez, also made the Festival more meaningful as he committed to support the activities of the Guidance Counselors in the province to intensify conduct of career guidance in schools. He also posted a challenge to students to commit their selves to finish their studies because the decision to succeed in life does not only rest on the support of their teachers, parents or their surroundings but mainly by themselves.

After the opening program, the students proceeded to the learning sessions held in Talusan National High School, while parents stayed in the gymnasium for their session. A new learning session was added this year which was the "K-12 Senior High School Appreciation" among the seven learning sessions. The event also promoted strong local partnership as local or home based personalities were invited to speak on entrepreneurship, vocation and missions.

Every journey has and end, but what matters most for the Guidance Counselors of Sibugay, DepEd and DOLE was the process of journeying with the students, parents teachers and LGUs to make a difference in addressing the job and skills mismatch problem of the country. After four months of traveling around the province the Core Group can now take their rest until next year, knowing that they have fulfilled their passion to help young people discover careers that can be nurtured into a calling.