CHOOSING the right career path can be difficult for some students but on Tuesday the future looked clear for those who attended the inaugural Careers Expo in Cooma.

Year nine, 10 and 11 students from Bombala High School, Saint Patrick’s Parish School, Monaro High School, Jindabyne Central School and Snowy Mountains Grammar School browsed over 30 stalls offering a wide range of career and education options, information and advice.

Representatives from the NSW Fire Brigade were on hand for those more adventurous students, who might dream of becoming a fire fighter. And if the dream was to become a fighter pilot the Australian Defence Force were ready to point people in the right direction.

The Australian Catholic University was represented along side the Australian National University, the University of Canberra, TAFE, the Canberra Institute of Technology, NSW Farmers, florists, massage therapists, accountants, Cooma-Monaro Shire Council, retailers and KFC.

Bombala businesswoman and Snowy Local Community Partnership coordinator Janet Lomas said she attended the expo to show students that there are many different pathways in life.

“I wanted to represent business and industry in Bombala,” Mrs Lomas said.

Mrs Lomas and her husband own and operate the Bombala Garden and Gadget Gallery and said there was nothing better than owning your own business.

“Owning a business is great. There are so many different pathways to learning,” she said.

But it was the convenience of locating all the local career options in one central location with some university and Canberra Institute of Technology options that impressed Jindabyne Central School students Mel Kamenjasevic and Carly Wheatley.

“It is really good the people here are approachable and having the universities come along is good,” Carly said.

“There is a wide range of what we can do,” Mel said.

“We’re really limited with what we have in Jindabyne,” Carly said.

Organiser and Snowy Local Community Partnership coordinator Debbie Thomas chose a hands-on theme for the day with loads of activities for boys and girls.