On Nov. 12, LCPS students were given the opportunity to participate in Job for a Day, a program for students to learn about different careers and shadow a professional in their chosen field.
Students picked from a variety of careers ranging from medical fields, criminal justice, construction, IT and more.
Senior Marissa Davis went to Reflections: A day time activities facility for early stage dementia.
“I plan on nursing, so shadowing this job was really fun and gave me extra insight on working with the elderly,” Davis said, “I am very excited to study nursing and hopefully become a nurse.”
Davis helped run the activities and even got to participate in some with the elderly, all while learning more about the effects of early stage dementia.
Junior Kate Swartz went to Loudoun Chamber of Commerce to learn more about marketing and business administration.
Swartz followed the event planning group to Ion, a skating arena in Loudoun, where they did a walkthrough for an event coming up.
“I also sat in a team meeting and followed their advertising person around with what she does,” Swartz said.
Swartz agreed that Job For A Day made her more excited for her career after she learned exactly what it entails.
“I’m more excited for this career [marketing and business administration] because I didn’t really know what it involved. Now I know and it seems fun,” Swartz said.
Senior CC Depascale went to Seneca Ridge Middle School and shadowed a Tech-Ed teacher.
“Mostly I just observed the classrooms, but I was also working with kids in small groups for assignments and stuff like that. I had a really good time,” Depascale said.
Depascale is a part of the teacher cadet program here at Valley and is hoping to become a teacher in the near future.
Senior Julia Helm shadowed at Inova Hospital in the Oncology unit. Although Helm decided that Oncology wasn’t the job for her, she felt it was a positive experience nonetheless.
“It was cool because I got to watch a chemo treatment and how they do chemo, and how they keep radiation waves away from certain areas.”
Even though Helm said pharmacy is a better fit for her, she definitely recommends Job For A Day because it gives you an idea as to what your day may look like in any given field.
“Especially if you’re looking to go into the medical field, it gives you a first hand look of like, you know you’re gonna see people in comas, or you’re going to see people crying.” Helm said.
Depascale agreed that other students should do Job For A Day next year to learn about their desired field of study.
“I would definitely recommend this opportunity to other students because it’s a great way to experience career fields before having to set decisions in stone for your future,” Depascale said.
