On November 6th, Grade 9 students across Canada had the opportunity to participate in National  Take Your Kid to Work Day. For me, that meant I got to spend the day with my mom and see what her work life is really like. The main question my class was supposed to answer was, “How does experiencing a workday shape our view of career choices?” Honestly, I didn’t know what I was going to discover. But I was about to find out.

Early Mornings and the Long Commute

I decided to shadow my mom, Carol. She’s one of those people who can juggle a million things at once and and not brake a sweat. I’ve always admired how she manages to get everything done, but I was curious to see what her actual workday looked like.

The first thing I learned? My mom wakes up super early. Like, WAY earlier than I’d ever want to. It’s still dark outside when she starts getting ready for work, and she’s out the door by 7:30 a.m. to drop my sister and me off at school. Then she has to drive all the way to New Westminster, which takes about an hour. I can’t even imagine having to wake up that early and drive that far just to get to work. I’ve got to say, I’m not a fan of long commutes—I value my sleep way too much to be up at the crack of dawn three times a week.

Her Work Life

When we finally got to her office, I got to see what her day is like. She works at the YMCA, which is a non-profit, so her job isn’t about making money like a regular business. Instead, it’s all about helping people and supporting the community. Her day is packed with meetings, emails, and phone calls, but she always seems to have it under control. There’s no time to waste—she’s always moving from one thing to the next.

I sat down with my mom to ask her about her job and how she got into this line of work. She told me that she loves working for the YMCA because it’s a job that makes a real difference in people’s lives. They don’t just focus on profits; they focus on helping people, which I think is pretty cool. She said that while her job can be busy and sometimes stressful, she finds it rewarding knowing that she’s contributing to something positive.

What I Learned About Career Choices

So, how did this experience change the way I think about my future career? Well, for starters, I learned that I definitely don’t want a job with a long commute. That’s just too much time spent in traffic for me. Also, sitting at a desk all day isn’t something I’d enjoy either. I’m the kind of person who likes variety and staying active, so a desk job might not be my thing.

But here’s the twist: Even though I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, I found it really inspiring to see how my mom works for a non-profit. The fact that she’s part of an organization that focuses on helping people, rather than just making money, made me think, “Wow, I want to do something that makes a difference too.” Maybe my career path won’t just be about working in a hospital—I could also look into jobs where I can help others in other ways.

New Perspective

In the end, I didn’t come away with all the answers about what I want to do in the future. But I did learn a lot. Spending the day with my mom showed me how hard she works and how much she cares about what she does. She manages her job, her family, and everything else in between, and she makes it look easy. I definitely have more respect for what she does now.

I still want to be a doctor, but I also want to find a way to make a difference, just like my mom does. Even though I wasn’t sure how shadowing her would help me figure out my future career, I think I got some important lessons about work, life, and what really matters.

So, National Take Your Kid to Work Day wasn’t just a random day off school—it helped me think more seriously about my future. And while I still don’t know exactly what I want to do when I grow up, I feel like I’ve got a better idea of what’s important to me. Maybe one day I’ll find a way to combine my dream job with the kind of work that makes a real impact on people’s lives.

TWKTWD and PLP: 

Even though the day was about learning what my mom does for work, there was still some work I had to do too. As part of PLP, my class had to make a 2-3 minute video about our day, answering the driving question: “How does experiencing a workday shape our view of career choices?” We had to show what we learned in a creative way and then upload the video to YouTube to share with the rest of the world. Video down below 👇

On top of that, we also had to write a professional thank-you email to our parents, thanking them for taking the time to have us shadow them. It was a good way to practice writing in a professional tone, which could come in handy for any future job, whether I end up working in a hospital, office, or something like my mom’s non-profit work. Email Below 👇

 

It was a lot to juggle, but it was cool to connect what we were learning to real-world skills. And even though I still don’t know exactly what I want to do when I grow up, this experience definitely helped me think more seriously about what kind of career I want to have.