Could two afternoon hours on a March Thursday change your life?
The folks running the MoSAIC program and the Disability resource center at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga certainly believe so.
Maybe even several lives considering the Reverse Career Fair the program sponsored in late March drew more than 30 local businesses so that the 19 autistic UTC juniors and seniors at the fair could show off their skills.
"We want to make sure the businesses in the area get to know the talents and abilities of these students," says Michelle Rigler, the executive director of the disability resource center at UTC. "This is a great chance for the students to get out there, but it's also a great chance for local businesses to see prospective interns or future hires who can bring so much to their workplace."
Rigler was part of the group that started this idea four years ago, when roughly 10 or businesses attended for to see a handful of students.
Now, the goals are even bigger.
More business. More students. More awareness.
And even more in touch with calling it a "career" fair rather than a job fair, which is more than just a spin on a job fair in nomenclature. In fact Rigler and Co. are intent on finding careers for their students, not just the next email handle or a first paycheck.
For Kyle Hudson, the career coordinator for the UTC Mosaic, the job fair was the first big event in his time at UTC.
Hudson, who had been on the job for all of two weeks before the March 28 event, was certainly up to the task. He earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Lee University in 2013 and his master's degree in counseling from Lee last year.
He is ready. And more importantly, he's excited for the future.
"In a perfect world, every one of our students will find a local connection - job or internship - from this," Hudson said before the event started. Rigler said that at connections were made and at least on UTC student had secured an interview for a paid internship at BlueCross BlueShield.
It's a great idea for the students, and a great opportunity for local businesses.
Rigler nor Hudson have no intentions of this becoming anything close to a "come find an autistic employee" event. No sir, no ma'am. This is a "come find a valuable addition to your company" event.
"This is not about a quota or anything like that," Rigler says. "It never has been. We want local business to see how much these students have to offer and how they would valuable additions to local businesses."
Says Hudson: "This is not a story about heartstrings. This is about a great group of talented students who any company would be fortunate to meet."
Jamie Butler has been a ket part of the Mosaic team that has lifted the Reverse Career Fair to its current stature.
"The biggest difference is the amount of buy-in we have gotten," Butler says. "The first year we really had no idea what to expect and were still trying to figure out what it was.
"Now we have great partnerships in the community and we're allowing the students to show who they are and what they can bring."
Rigler is focused on expanded the number of partnerships too.
A series of lunches through the spring and summer explaining the programs available at the Disability Resource Center in general and the Reverse Career Fair in particular are on the horizon.
So too are more opportunities for the almost 50 autistic UTC students participating in the Mosaic program.
"This is a collection of high-achieving and motivated people who will be an asset to any workplace," Hudson says.
Hudson speaks emphatically about the students who will be at Thursday's fair.
Hard-working. Determined. Focused. Educated.
What's not to like, right?
"I know that everyone who gets a chance to meet these students will be impressed," Hudson says.
Sure, he may be a bit biased, but here's betting he's right.
And everyone who shows up will be more than impressed.
For more information about the Reverse Career Fair, contact Hudson at Kyle-Hudson@utc.edu. For more information about the UTC Disability Resource Center, contact Michelle Rigler at michelle-Rigler@utc.edu.