One option for seniors in fulfilling their Career Education requirements, or CRLEs as they are called for short is to do a job shadow.

Every senior needs to complete two career-related activities and write a paper about it in order to graduate, and job shadows are one of the best options for it.

John Young, who organizes the job shadows for interested students, thinks that it’s a great way for students to learn more about the career path they may be interested in.

"A job shadow can provide a valuable reality check," he explains. "Sometimes people’s perceptions of what a job is like are very different from how it really is, and a job shadow shows you what it’s really like."

However, sometimes job shadows can make people even more sure about what they want to do.

Senior Olivia Huber, who hopes to become a doctor, recently completed a job shadow with an Emergency Room doctor, and loved doing it.

"I wasn’t expecting that there would be a lot going on, since it was a Thursday morning in Grants Pass, but I was able to see some really cool things," she says.

Huber watched the doctors diagnose the patients that came in, and saw both the X-rays and the steps for the ER procedure.

"I would definitely recommend doing a job shadow for a career that you think you might be interested in. Although it’s only for a really short amount of time, you’re still able to see what the actual job is like," she says.

For more information about job shadows, see Young in the Career Center.