Beaufort County 10^th-graders got a firsthand look at different career paths Thursday morning with the annual Job Shadow Day.

The event involves collaboration between the county’s high schools and the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce, as well as sponsorship by PotashCorp-Aurora.

Students are able to choose from a wide variety of career options, including the medical field, law enforcement, tourism and forestry. They are then matched with an employee/mentor from their career of choice and visit the workplace with them to experience a few hours of a normal workday.

Catherine Glover, executive director of the Chamber, said Job Shadow Day has been going on for at least 15 years, if not longer.

She said there were about 55 student participants this year, along with the mentors. Students had to apply to participate in the event.

Job Shadow Day is a good way for 10^th-graders to decide if they like a career field by experiencing it before college rolls around, according to Glover.

“It just gets you at least a glimpse,” she said. “You don’t get a full view of a job until you are in it.”

Glover said organizers decided to focus on 10^th grade specifically because it is a turning point in students’ lives — they have already gotten their feet wet in high school during ninth grade, but they aren’t as set on a career path as the upperclassmen.

“We feel like 10^th grade is the best time to do it,” she said.

One of the students participating in this year’s Job Shadow Day was Washington High School sophomore Abby Harris.

Harris said she loves to write, so she chose to spend her time at the Daily News office to learn more about journalism, as well as get a tour of the building and participate in interviews.

“There’s a lot more to journalism than what I thought,” she said. “I kind of got like a really inside view that not many people get.”

Harris said one of her favorite parts of the experience was seeing the physical, 12-month newspaper archives kept in the office.

She said she was also interested to learn that there are many aspects of journalism besides the newspaper and enjoyed meeting the people behind the print.

“I’ve always kind of had a solidified interest in journalism. … (This) has really sealed the deal, I suppose,” Harris said.

That’s the type of career insight Glover likes to see from the event.

“We would recommend it to anybody,” Glover said. “If I was a 10^th-grader, I would take advantage of this opportunity.”