 Over 2,000 students from across North Central Minnesota descended on Brainerd today to experience and explore over 200 various careers and what they all have to offer. The Bridges Career Exploration Day is an annual tradition that brings 26 school districts to Central Lakes College. Reporter Rachel Johnson has the story. Surgical nurse, firefighter, electrical engineer and teacher bridges some of the over 200 careers that line the halls at Central Lakes College today. Today is an amazing opportunity for our students really just to explore a variety of careers. Our goal is really to have them have an open mind and really just explore. The Bridges Career Exploration Day was started in 2008 with 57 exhibitors and 750 students attending. What we looked at was how can we grow and build something that is inviting because we know we have the audience if we can create the experience. It has since grown to over 2,000 students and showcases more than 200 regional high-demand careers. We have grown so much we're out of space. We get business every year that wants to be a part of it. The Bridges Career Academy, a workforce development initiative started the Career Exploration Day over 10 years ago. This and many of the other programs that Bridges does really brings together students, business and the educators to all understand how business can work for them. Bridges hopes that the students get a feel for not only what the career is like but what the environment during a typical day would be like. This was not your typical career fair. Most booths were completely interactive so students were able to experience what the day in the career would look like. You know students who are here get the opportunity to weld. They get the opportunity to draw blood from an orange. They're getting an opportunity to see law enforcement. High school students around the area look forward to this day every year. I really enjoy it. You learn. My favorite is the welding because you actually get to weld. The organizers know how important it is to introduce students to potential careers. We understand that this is a big decision but let's take this opportunity and really learn from hands-on activities if this might be a career for you to further explore. Bridges Career Academy hopes to keep growing the event every year so that every students can connect with the career that they are interested in. Reporting from Brainerd, Rachel Johnson, Lakeland News. The Bridges Career Exploration Day was first held at Cregan's Resort before moving to Central Lakes College over eight years ago. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.