Job Shadow Day...

[Sara]

So as a Sophomore, it's mandated in the state of PA (where I live) that students job-shadow as part of this gigantic career project thingy that's worth a certain percentage of our grade. It consists of an interview, a research paper and the job-shadow portion, and we have to choose one career we're interested in to do each of these pieces on. As I had already chosen to write my research paper about surgical specialists and interview my dentist, I chose a veterinarian for the job-shadowing part; today I had all the 'anti-pedophile' release forms and paperwork signed and I'm set to do it on the 16th. I'm sort of bored right now, so I thought I'd ask if any of you ever had to job shadow as a part of your schoolwork? Did you enjoy the experience or did you absolutely positively hate it? Was your mentor a jerk? I'm looking forward to being entertained and/or enlightened by your responses. xD

[Flamburt]

Hey Sara, I don't have any "shadowing" experience, but I did work in a doctor's office in high school. I was in the "back office, which meant brining patients to their rooms and putting them on basic therapies, as well as doing rehab with the patients that needed it. While it was not shadowing, and not what I am really interested in (I am studying bio in college now and am going to *hopefully* go to med school and become a full doctor) but it was an amazing experience all the same. I am scheduled to do at least two shadows over the summer, one with a pediatrician and one with a surgeon. But my experience working at the doctor's office was amazing, and the doctors were super nice to me. They ended up teaching me a lot of medical stuff, such as how to identify certain types of breaks on x rays, as well as physical tests used to rule out certain diseases or to tell the difference between a torn muscle or a bone fracture. I absolutely loved it, even though it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do, just getting to be a part of the field that I was interested felt great. Sorry if I seem like I'm rambling, but my main point is that if you show that you want to learn and are interested in the field, most of the people around you will be more than happy to teach you things and be nice about it. Also, I doubt it'll be boring if it is what you are interested in, and it seems like it fits right in with what your paper is about, so I assume you find that interesting. Again, sorry for rambling and I hope this helps!

[Versoffen]

We have something in NC called a "senior project" that we do in the twelfth grade that sounds sort of like that. It's more open ended and we don't really have to strictly job shadow (it's sort of the un-written intent of the project imo).

I was able to completely bullshit my project and I passed (that was the most valuable skill I learned in school). My mentor was great because he let me sleep during the sessions. When you're near/over the threshold, you usually sleep a ton.

If I had it to do over again, I might be able to do a legitimately good job, but when I was 16/17 I was terribly introverted and ugly. And I went home every day thinking about jumping off a cliff, that really killed any desire I had to do well in school or think about the future.

I think as long as you do something you're interested in you'll probably like it to some degree, although there may be more dirty work in jobs that sort of quell the rainbow filled dreams of a job you might have had as a child. Especially vet stuff. IDK though.

My sister in law was a vet tech and she liked it. She grew up wanting to be a vet tech, got herself a degree for it, did it... until her coworkers started sabotaging her. It eventually got unbearable to the point that she was let go (and the folks in charge knew it was going on, they just didn't have the spine to step in and do something about it). If there was anything gross about the job, I've never had the impression that it bothered her. Ironically, leaving worked to her benefit, because now she's a ViSalus distributor, she has replaced most of her income and gets to spend tons of time with my nieces (her daughters). (TL;DR - make friends with co-workers)

If you're interested in something - that's good. I'm not really interested in anything lucrative/productive except writing prose, and I'm not any good at it.

[Slazapuss]

Oh god the dreaded "Senior project" lol i graduated highschool in NC as well tho i live in Philly now (thank god) but ya i shadowed a police officer. It was crazy tho cuz some drunk ***** was driving and flipped her car over a railroad track so we had to take her in and while the cop was out looking at the accident i had to stay in the car with this drunk person and she kept trying to talk to me saying weird things lol it was fun.

[Sara]

@ Flamburt - that sounds amazing! I would kill to be able to do that XD Overprotective legislature has made those sorts of opportunities difficult to come by in the Age of Paranoia; I'm so glad you got to experience something like that. I'd love to work in a doctor's office as a volunteer or an intern; I've asked so many different doctors but they just don't want to be responsible for kids anymore and I don't blame them. x.x I do volunteer at the local hospital every summer, but that's about as close as I'm able to get to that. That aside, it's still a very rewarding experience. (: I wish you luck with your pediatrician and surgeon shadows; I'd especially love to shadow a surgeon but it's the same deal as with the family practice doctors I've asked. It's difficult to find one who is willing to take the risk of letting a kid observe him or her in the OR. I'll have plenty of opportunities in college, I hope.

@Versoffen - I'm not worried about the 'dirty stuff,' particularly. Most of my favored career choices involve blood and treating nasty afflictions, which of course involves having to see nasty afflictions on a daily basis xD I agree about the rainbow perceptions destroying dreams, though - a lot of kids who want to be vets/doctors/surgeons either want it for the money or so they can see the cute little animals everyday in the vet's case, not because they're in love with the career...My main goal was always just to find a job where I could incorporate my love of science to help my community. That's horrible that your sister's coworkers did that to her, though. I'm glad she's happy where she is now. I hope that doesn't happen to me. x.x

Slazapuss - xD! that's really cool actually. Most juniors I know who shadowed their soph. year like I am tell me shadowing cops is typically extremely boring. I am glad that she wasn't hurt. xD

[Wreck]

I totally had senior projects too. I recorded an album with some of my buddies, and it was all paid for. It was awesome.

[Flamburt]

Lol at the NC senior project. We didn't need a mentor my year, thank g-d, that would've been even more time wasted. And Sara, it was very cool, but I can understand that it would be hard. Admittedly I only got the position in the office because it was my dad's office haha. And the surgeon has known me through my dad for a long time, which is why she would let me. But I would say that in your shadows, make friends with the doctors, be professional, and show that you want to learn, and the number of opportunities you get later on will sky rocket. Good luck!