There’s a surprising number of people in the senior class who can tell you their exact career aspirations. But for others, like myself, plans after high school are more fuzzy. So in the fall, seniors head out for job shadowing. They find placements with local professionals and “shadow” them for a day, participating in their job as much as they can. I interviewed some seniors about their job placements and their career hopes.
Sim Yoder went to shadow a veterinarian at an animal hospital. She observed a kitten getting spayed, saw a surgery, and sat in on checkups. The vet took urine samples to check for fleas and roundworms, and Sim got to look at the samples under a microscope to find the parasites. After this experience, Sim thinks she’ll seriously consider veterinary school, since she now knows she’s “okay with animal insides most of the time,” and thinks the job is interesting.
Liam shadowed the Vice President of a manufacturing company that makes computer cords. He attended a meeting with a banker to talk about finances and a meeting with the company’s engineers. Liam thinks he might end up doing some kind of business management like this, so the experience was helpful.
Isabel Moore spent the day shadowing a dermatologist. She says the day was “pretty boring” because the doctor didn’t have many appointments, but she’s still interested in the job. Dermatologists deal with everything from beauty treatments to acne to skin cancer. Isabel wants to go to medical school and become one. When asked why, Izzy says, “I just love skin.”
I chose to shadow Jennifer Weingart, WVPE radio reporter and local host of All Things Considered. My favorite part was pre-recording the “breaks,” tiny snippets of sound that go in between segments of the BBC World Service in the early hours of the morning. These bits give the station’s name, the time, and the weather. I also liked observing All Things Considered. The local host doesn’t do the whole show, just gives the station tag and local news in gaps in the national broadcast. Being part of something bigger like that is really cool. I’m considering journalism as a career, and might want to go into radio.
Below are pictures taken by Kevin Miller, showing some seniors not interviewed for this article.
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