This year the Junior Class is being encouraged to begin thinking about their futures and careers in a new way.
Each junior will be shadowing someone in Louisville, or in surrounding cities, who works in a career that he thinks he might like to pursue. This gives the student a closer glimpse into the career of his choice and what it takes to work in this field. The program has been used at Assumption High School in the past, and this will mark its first year at Trinity.
At the end of last year, Activities Director Joe Henning visited junior classes and explained that at the beginning of this year they would receive a form that they have to fill out explaining what job they will be shadowing. On Feb. 9, all juniors will shadow the job of their choice. On this day the juniors will not report to school but will instead report for their job shadowing, where they will spend at least half the school day learning all there is to know about the job they are shadowing. Students will write a paper following their experience.
Junior Keith Wilson, who will be shadowing a speech pathologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, said of the program, “I think this is a great program, because this year and next year is the time that we have to take and think to ourselves, ‘What am I going to do with the rest of my life? What am I going to be?’ (This puts) us in a real-life example of the career we want to choose and determine whether we want to do it for the rest of our lives.”
However, not all juniors are singing the program’s praises.
“Personally, I have mixed feelings about the project,” junior Cameron Whaley said. “While I think it is important for students to explore careers, I think that they are too young to decide on a permanent career. I for one am still deciding on what job I want to shadow.”
All juniors are required to participate, and they may not shadow a parent or relative.
Wilson said that the three to six hours that the program takes is “totally worth it. It’s great. I hope it’s something that keeps going on at Trinity. I know it’s definitely going to help me with my decision-making process for what career I want to do.”