CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dozens of Chesapeake high school students exchanged the classroom for the office in a "Job Shadowing Day" where students learned from professionals of prospective fields.
Twenty-two businesses across Chesapeake opened their offices to the students. There, students asked themselves the age-old question: what do you want to be when you grow up?
"I took a computer class where we could code and program our games, and I just knew it was for me," said Nickolas Nixon, a senior in high school. "I've loved it ever since."
"It's anything but coding for me, but I definitely know this is the field that I want to do," said Renoldo Windham Jr, a senior in high school.
Professionals say the shadowing is helpful not only for the students but also for the experts. Kurtis Lyle, assistant program manager for M I Technical Solutions, said often these experiences can lead to internships.
"We've been doing meetings like this for years, and it's led to a number of things including some people coming here to work with us for a time," said Lyle. "They can also see open positions that we have, and then they can fill the roles with certifications."
Even if students do not go into their chosen prospective field for a day, Lyle said it can be equally as important to find out what you do not want to do.
However, these Chesapeake high school students said they know their futures are set.
"It's 100% at this point, I'm going to continue to improve my skills and eventually get a job doing this at some point," said Nixon.