Whoever thought work could be worse than school? I mean at work, you get to choose what you want to focus on and you get paid for what you do while at school, your teachers pile you up on homework and you definitely don’t get paid. If anything, your just paying your teachers through tax dollars! One things for sure, by the end of the day, I definitely had to rethink this statement. Today, I had a chance to have a glimpse into the busy life of an adult.  I got to see just how hard and stressful working could be. Today, I had to participate in Take Your Kid to Work Day.

Dr. Cindy Shum

For this event, I would be shadowing the usual daily routine of my optometrist and mother Dr. Cindy Shum. I would be stuck in a boring office from 7:00 am to about 5:30pm helping out where I could and watching tentatively as others did their jobs. This is my journal-like recap on my workday.

The moon shone its final few glows on the walls and windows of a little optometrist clinic on the corner of the street. The sun had not yet risen as the day was still new, but the loud sound of cars and busses had already begun as people began to make their way towards their workday destinations. My workday started at 5;30am in the morning beginning with having to drive my little brother Cameron to early morning hockey practice. By the time he was dropped off and my mom and I reached the office it was 7:00am. Still pretty early. We were at our family owned optometrist clinic, BurnabyVisionCare. The normal preopening setup began. As the early morning sound of cars and traffic roared outside the windows, the little clinic came to life. The lights were turned on, the computers rebooted, eyewear was checked and arranged in their pretty glass cases and the window blinds were opened letting in the pale light of the morning sun.

Work started off pretty boring. I was placed in a dark prep room. The only light came from the few computers that lined the walls and the only sound was the humming of machinery and the tapping of my fingers against the keyboard as I typed in each of the patients names. I had no idea what was happening outside and was forever thankful when I had finally finished typing in the final name. I opened the door and was greeted with real daylight again. It felt so amazing to be able to see outside after spending what felt like hours but really only was a few minutes inside the dark prep room. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the brighter light, a spray bottle and tag was placed into my hand and I was told to clean the lenses.

It was hours later and I was pretty sure that I had wiped down almost every surface and eyewear frame in the whole clinic. I got to then see the cycle of what a normal eye exam would look like. From first checking in, to seeing the actual doctor to being lead back to the lobby, I quickly realized that the whole process resembled a circle. I found this kind of fascinating and actually based my Take Your Kid to Work Day Video off of this cycle.

Again I was stuck in a room. What is it with always being cramped into a dimly lit boring room? This time, it was the staff room where I sat down to a lunch of Sushi takeout. It felt like only minutes when my mom came rushing in and told me my break was up and it was time to work again.

It was back to cleaning eyewear and the sun began to set as my tired arms rubbed each lense. As the evening went on and the number of staff and patients lessened, I was finally able to stop working and take a break behind the front desk. Just as I got to see the little clinic come to life, I got to see it go to sleep. The lights dimmed, the « Open » sign was turned off and the doors were locked. With the few remaining rays of light off in the distance, I turned off the final lights in the staff room and followed my mother out the door.

Ok back to reality. The lesson I learned from the day? That work, when it’s not your passion completely sucks. Anyways, back to the actual project that accompanied this experience, our Take Your Kid to Work Day Video! I interviewed Sydney, one of the front desk staff who worked there and also got permission to film a bit of how she would handle a patient and take them through her process. Watch the video below to see my final product!

While this experience was very interesting, I’m glad I never have to do it again…unless I become an eye doctor one day😬