Be honest... do you really know your neighbors? The event that will connect your community

Not only will you learn what your neighbors do for a living, it will bring you closer!

You've lived next door for five, even 10 years, but do you know what they do for a living? Enter the neighborhood career night. One Utah community is using this idea to connect and get to know each other better. Organizers Sammi Coberly and Brynn Cates said the idea originated with teenagers who wanted to explore different career paths. "This actually started with some teenagers in our neighborhood who came up with the idea," Coberly said. As they got planning, they realized all the amazing things their neighbors did, people they thought they knew well. As Coberly and Cates reached out, they were impressed at the range of professions they had in their own area.

"We had a wide variety of professions," Cates said. "It was really cool to learn that all those were so close within our neighborhood." To make participation easy and organized, the put together a spreadsheet and sent it around for neighbors to sign up. "We put a spreadsheet out on our neighborhood Facebook page," Coberly explained. They encouraged anyone wanting to participate to bring diplomas or tools they work with along with a small presentation. "By making it not complicated and simple made people wanna join," Coberly emphasized. Cates and Coberly said the kids in the neighborhood had a great time and learned about careers they had never heard about before. The event ultimately helped everyone connect and learn about neighbors that thought they already knew. "It was really cool how much it just brought our community and our neighborhood together," Cates said. "It was especially really awesome for the teenagers and kids in our community that they were able to see so many successful people, male and female, in so many different career paths being successful in their life." If this sounds like a fun idea you'd like to try in your area, Cates and Coberly shared a little advice. "Don't overthink it. Keep it simple and effective and make it easy for people to want to join," Cates emphasized. They said to especially make sure to reach out to those you don't know and hopefully, they'll sign up.