Tony Alonso, right, along with John Hernandez of Hormel, explains the sales and marketing end of Hormel to interested students Monday at Riverland Community College's Be Your Best event. — Matt Peterson/matt.peterson@austindailyherald.com

About 50 students of all interests came together at Riverland Community College to learn from the experts themselves at a professionals seminar Monday morning.

The seminar and luncheon, through Riverland’s Be Your Best program, allowed prospective college students access to area workers in various career fields, from law enforcement and engineering to small business entrepreneurship. Daily Herald editorial staff also took part in the seminar.

“In the past, we brought professionals in one by one,” said Yesenia Mendoza, Riverland multicultural coordinator and Be Your Best coordinator. “This is the first time we brought in a variety of professionals to do a career workshop.”

Juan Hernandez appreciated the variety. Hernandez, a Northfield High School graduate who wants to own a restaurant one day, said he liked how professionals talked about life after school.

“It was really helpful to talk about the future,” he said.

Austin Police Capt. Dave McKichan was impressed by some of the questions he received during the event.

“It was outstanding,” he said of the seminar. “It’s always nice to be able to visit with anyone in the public, especially young adults who take an interest in pursuing education.”

That was the idea behind the seminar, according to Be Your Best organizers.

“We just wanted to give students insight,” Mendoza said. “How do you get there? What does it take? Just getting an insight of what’s out there that they may not have known about.”