I’ve seen both sides of job shadowing

Last week Jonathan informed me we would be having a high school job shadower joining us at work.

I didn’t really think too much about it until he added that she would be following me around and learning about all the things I did on a day-to-day basis.

That’s when I started to get nervous.

I remember being sixteen years old and having an endless possibility of careers stretching out in front of me.

I remember being part of Junior Leadership, the organization sponsored by the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce that allowed these high school students to enter the workforce for a day and see what a particular career would be like.

I remember not knowing what profession I would choose and being excited to actually see what I could potentially be doing in 10 or 20 years.

I remember testing out a couple of careers, mostly in the realm of criminal law, because I just couldn’t make up my mind between being a lawyer or a judge.

I can remember Judge Sharon Hester, who was the circuit judge at the time, letting me tag along with her and see some of the things she did as a judge.

I remember soaking everything up and taking in every bit of information that I could so I would be able to make an informed decision about my career when the time came.

Obviously I didn’t end up going to law school or becoming a judge, but it was those kinds of experiences  and the knowledge I gained that allowed me to find the path I really wanted to choose and pursue a career in writing.

And now someone would be soaking up knowledge from me?

That was a pretty scary thought because I didn’t feel qualified to be dispensing knowledge about life choices to a 16-year-old high school student.

So I stayed pretty nervous until Wednesday finally rolled around. I straightened up my desk and watched the minutes tick off the clock until Lauren Gray, an eleventh grader from Red Bay High School, walked through the door.

Lauren was a very sweet girl and, once I got to talking to her, I realized that she was very smart as well.

Lauren said she was looking for a more creative career because she couldn’t bear the thought of sitting in an office all day, which I could completely understand.

I decided to take her with me to do interviews of a few local pharmacists for our annual Progress edition, and when I called them that morning to let them know Lauren would be coming along, they each told me they had job shadowers as well.

So I gave Lauren a reporter’s notebook and the camera and I let her interview and take pictures of these other job shadowers to get the feeling of what it would be like to be a reporter.

She asked them about what they wanted to be and where they wanted to go to school, and I thought she did a very good job.

When we got back to the office, she sat at my computer and typed up an account of her two interviews (which you can find in today’s paper), and I was pretty impressed with that as well.

When the clock said 12:00 I hated to see her go. I really enjoyed being part of the job shadowing experience and being allowed to share a few of the things I’ve learned since entering “the real world” with a girl who will be doing the same thing sooner than she thinks.

I’m glad our Chamber of Commerce gives Franklin County kids the opportunity to test their wings before actually being pushed out of the nest.

And whether they decide to be reporters or pharmacists, or lawyers or police officers, they will all have gained some knowledge Wednesday that will put them a few steps closer to making that big decision.

I wish Lauren all the best for what looks like will be a very bright and promising future.