Menlo students visited Facebook before the break and enjoyed seeing how

Lauren Yang | Staff Reporter

Located in Silicon Valley, Menlo is surrounded by successful big name companies. Menlo students had the opportunity to visit Facebook’s Menlo Park campus on Dec 10. The visit, which was sponsored by M-BEST, featured a campus tour and a panel discussion.

Students had the opportunity to have breakfast at one of Facebook’s many cafeterias. After breakfast, the group was led on a campus tour. Facebook’s campus is inspired by Disney’s Main Street and downtown Palo Alto. The complex boasts of numerous buildings that are not usually found in other company campuses, such as an arcade room, a music studio, a barber shop, a bike shop, a bank, a sweets shop, a woodshop, and a health center.

The visit concluded with a discussion with Facebook employees. Each panelist worked in a different industry so that students could gain perspective on what it’s like to work for Facebook from a sales, engineering, communications, and business angle. The discussion panelists included Arielle Aryah, Bianca Gates, Charlton Gholson, Tom Occhino, and Tessa Lyons Laing.

Students and faculty alike were impressed by Facebook’s campus. Junior Elizabeth Powers enjoyed meeting the Facebook employees. “My favorite part of the Facebook tour was hearing the panel of employees talk about the work they do at Facebook,” Power said. Junior Erin Broderick agrees. “It was really cool to hear about the variety of careers offered at Facebook,” Broderick said.

Joanie Banks-Hunt, the Upper School Director of M-BEST, was thrilled about the innovation she observed throughout the day. “My favorite part of the tour was […] experiencing the tech world that my students are entering which is very different than the tech world I entered upon,” Banks said. She also viewed the visit as a valuable chance for students to expand their minds. “The Facebook tour provided another opportunity to experience other ways in which students learn, engage, express, connect, and develop.” Banks said.

However, Banks also added that she was disappointed that some students appeared more intrigued about the amenities of the campus than the Facebook employees.

Overall, the tour was very rewarding and students felt they learned what a career in a successful company like Facebook is like.