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[ The Elmhurst Scene ]
Up Close and Personal
Elmhurst Students in shadowing programs get a chance to check out careers, from broadcast news to brain surgery.
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Katie Kailus was pretty sure she was interested in a career in broadcast journalism, but there was just one problem. Apart from watching the news on TV, she had never really seen a broadcast journalist in action. So last year the Elmhurst sophomore spent a day in the studios of WGN-TV, following news anchor Jackie Bange as she prepared for an evening broadcast.
For Kailus it turned out to be a revealing experience. "It opened my eyes," she says, "I was interested in broadcast journalism before, but I wasn't sure what it would be like. I don't know anyone in the business, no relatives or friends. This gave me a glimpse of it."
Kailus us one of an increasing number of Elmhurst students who take part in job shadowing experiences. In job shadowing, students spend anywhere from a day to a week tagging along with a professional mentor on the job. The premise is simple: buying a new car usually starts with a test drive; even a new pair of shoes ought to be tired on for size. So why not allow students to get a taste of everyday professional life in a variety of fields before they settle on a career path?
"Its about career explorations." says Julie Nearing, who coordinates shadowing experiences from Elmhurst's Center for Professional Excellence (CPE). "Most students aren't sure about what they want to do. We match them up with a professional in a field that interests them and let them see a day in the life. They see if it's a good fit for them."
The CPE's shadowing program is just one of a number of career exploration options that are available to Elmhurst students as early as their freshmen year. If the student likes what she sees on the shadowing experience, it can often lead to longer-term opportunities, including internships and formal mentoring relationships. Students across campus are taking advantage of the opportunities.
The Center for Health Professions offers its own shadowing experiences focused on the world of health care. One student each year is awarded a week-long shadowing opportunity with John Grollmus, a neurosurgeon based in Northern California and an Elmhurst alumnus. Students sit in on patient consultations and even scrub in for surgeries. It's a real taste of the neurosurgeon's life," says Cheryl Leoni, the Center's assistant director.
Nearing says the CPE offers dozens of shadowing experiences each term in fields ranging from law to investment counseling to retail management. For some students, that means a chance to sample a number of possibilities. For others, like Kailus, it's more a matter of confirming an interest.
"The most impressive thing was learning how much work goes into a broadcast," says Kailus. "from the writing to editing tape to recording the voice-over, a little two-minute segment takes hours of work. Seeing it all just made me that much more interested in the field."
By Andrew Santella
Photography by Mark Segal |
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