TED talks at South? Not far off, at least according to students and staff who participated in the first chat of the year. Derek Christensen, one of the Cougar Club sponsors, created Cougar Chats this year to expose Plainfield South students to new ideas and career options.

Christensen, who is in charge of the Cougar Chats, tries to find interesting guests to come talk to students each month.

“We have only had one [chat] so far. We brought in a pilot from United Airlines,” said Christensen.

On September 17, Dave Walters, captain of several flights since the early 2000s, paid South a visit to share his adventures of being an airline pilot.

Freshman Moniece Bonner and Morgan Sielaff said they enjoyed their first Cougar Chat.

“Some of his stories were very interesting like the one about how he was flying into Hong Kong while there was a bunch of thunderstorms,” Bonner said.

Sielaff’s favorite part was listening to his talk about his supportive family.

Both agreed they would attend the next Chat.

The first guest was a family friend of Christensen’s, but the sponser is on the look out for more speakers.

“If anyone knows anybody who would be a nice guest to have, they can contact me,” Christensen said.

The main goal is student involvment. Christensen said students can ask more questions if they’re interested and feels this is a great opportunity to gain advice about future careers.

Currently, the chats are held in the Media Center.