A lot of students have conceptual knowledge on what it is like to work in the different careers they aspire to have, but it is hard to see the job in action without a parent or relative with that occupation, vice president of Student Programs, Job Shadow Day coordinator Manuela Silveira said.

Job Shadow Day, held on Oct. 9, allowed students to partake in a career of their choice. This helped them get more involved in various careers before they decide on what they want to major in in college, junior Kaci Freeman said. 

Silveira said the event provided students the opportunity to experience a day in the life of a professional in a career of their choice, gathering insight that can help them finalize or evaluate their plans for the future. 

“Going to this job shadow day really confirmed my original aspiration [of being a teacher],” Freeman said. “I really had fun helping the students with writing and I was able to see how teachers handle difficult students or different situations.”

Partaking in intervention specialist Katrina Watter’s job for a day at Santa Rita Elementary School allowed sophomore Arcus Foo’s desire to work with children in their future job to be set in stone. 

However, there is currently a lack of career diversity students can shadow, Foo said. This can provide restrictions on students’ explorations, they added.

“I don’t think the shadow was a good fit for me,” Foo said. “My job interest was child development psychology, and [I did] a teaching shadow. While somewhat similar, the shadow didn’t help me learn about psychology and its field at all.” 

Despite the issue, Foo said there are still many benefits to participating in Job Shadow Day. 

“It’s a lot more engaging and accurate to learn about your dream job from someone working it than on the internet or through books,” Foo said. “And if the shadow is like mine, you actually get to try it too.”