by Sami Linden

Graphics Designer

While many students enjoyed their relaxing day off from school on Mar. 19, others participated in the second annual Job Shadow event. Over the course of three to four hours, participants shadowed at a company and learned what happens behind the scenes on the job. While only upperclassmen could attend Job Shadow last year, this year all students could participate.

The available programs ranged from finance to manufacturing to shadowing a veterinarian. Local companies could apply to be a host company and allow students to visit their space, learning from employees. The program allows students to get an inside look at what actually happens within a specific career, helping them decide what type of job they may want to pursue in the future.

“Job shadow is a great day where [students] can go to a company of [their] interest and learn the process behind that company,” sophomore Christina Wong said. Wong spent the day at Adobe where she spoke with the Vice President of the company, a marketing team, and a computer scientist. She explained, “it’s really cool to talk to people from different ranks in the company because you can really see how different positions work together as a cohesive team.”

Junior Saba Jafroodi headed to NASA where she and a group of students learned how scientists design robots and observed how radiation and gravity affects mice in space. Jafroodi said: “Before coming to Job Shadow, I had no idea what I wanted to pursue in the future, but being exposed to this kind of science really clarified what path I want to follow.”

Both Wong and Jafroodi enjoyed their Job Shadow experiences and recommend it to anyone who is interested in participating next year.

(Sources: Job Shadow, SJ Mercury News)