That time I Went to a Job Shadowing Event

I’m in virtual school. It’s a little bit different from the standard homeschool format but I like it cause all of my work it in one place. Online. 

Though one thing about it is they really wanna give us virtual school students a chance at the “normal school experience” (which I don’t want which is why I’m homeschooled in the first place).

And so they arrange a lot of events. Some are fun, some are informative, and some are not so enjoyable. It’s a mixed basket. 

Anyhow, one events that they offered was a job shadowing event. This one actually caught my attention which is pretty rare when it comes to their activities which are usually college fairs and then like. 

I was kind of at a loss at the time at what career I wanted to pursue (still am) so this looked like a great opportunity. 

But one thing the email GREATLY emphasized was professionalism. They had a dress code and reiterated that we were representing Robertson County schools and were to be SUPREMELY PROFESSIONAL OR ELSE.

So I decided to job shadow a writer. Basically I was just going to meet a writer at a coffee shop downtown and talk about writing a career. Sounds fun. 

A week later I found myself in a coffee shop looking for my “contact”. I felt kind of like a spy and I almost wished there was a secret code like “the chicken has flown the nest” or something like that. 

Anyway, he was relatively easy to find. And so he offered to buy me a coffee from the shop. Me, being the very, very, white girl I am, said sure. 

I got an Iced caramel coffee. I’ve never been a huge coffee drinker and I liked it sweet so I thought it was a relatively safe drink. 

So upon getting my drink we talked about writing, getting published, self publishing and going through a publisher. It was all very informative. 

Then I took a sip of my drink. I was not prepared for the flavor that assaulted my taste buds. 

It wasn’t bitter.  Nor was it sweet. It was sour. Incredibly sour.  Like bad milk kind of sour.

Listen, I’m no expert. There’s a lot of things coffee should and can be. Sour is not one of them. 

But, ladies and gents, I live in the south. The very polite south. The south where if someone buys you something or sets food in front of you, you eat it. How nasty it is is not a part of the equation. 

So the job shadowing event was fun except for the fact that I was actively trying to consume this positively nasty drink while still acting professional. Which was kind of hard because spewing your coffee over someone could be seen as “unprofessional”,

So yeah, that was a memorable experience.