"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

It's a question everyone is asked at one point or another in their lifetime. In a kindergarten class, the question is answered easily with occupations like astronaut, chef, ballerina, teacher. But when that once abstract question becomes a present reality for college students, the answer holds more pressure and often more uncertainty. That's where Cal Athletics' Cameron Institute comes into play.

The Cameron Institute, built on a foundation of three pillars – career development, community engagement, and mental performance – provides resources and support for Cal student-athletes through a team of experts, something that very few collegiate athletic departments in the nation place as much emphasis on.

The career development pillar designed a multitude of services that ensure student-athletes are positioned to land their "golden opportunity" upon leaving Berkeley, including a 2-credit Career Readiness Seminar, in-house one-on-one career advising, mentorship programs with current professionals, and access to the hallmark The Golden Bear Network – a robust network of alumni and professionals who are eager to connect with Cal student-athletes for informational interviews, internship and job opportunities and resume and cover letter reviews. 

The pillar also places an emphasis on "world of work experiences" (WOWEs), which provide student-athletes direct exposure to the working world through internships, job shadowing and short-term projects in an expansive array of different fields of work. WOWEs give student-athletes one-of-a-kind hands-on opportunities, which help them build skills and connections that can land them career opportunities upon graduation.

A unique challenge student-athletes face is finding time in their busy schedules to pursue professional opportunities such as WOWEs. Between attending their classes, training sessions, strength and conditioning workouts and competition schedules, student-athletes' time is often stretched thin. The embedment of the Cameron Institute within the Cal Athletics department means it has a profound understanding of this singular roadblock for student-athletes. With a conscious effort to design its programming around the rigorous schedule of a student-athlete, a job shadow week over spring academic recess emerged, allowing the opportunity to dedicate time and focus to future career endeavors.

The production of the first Cameron Institute Job Shadow Week was nearly a year in the making. The Cameron Institute advisors began planning in the summer of 2023, forging connections with companies and professionals in the Bay Area. Student-athletes submitted applications in January of this year and were matched with shadow hosts in February based on field of interest and schedule. Students and hosts were then given the opportunity to connect ahead of their shadow day, with hosts often providing resources such as videos and reading to help the students be prepared for the kind of work they were about to experience.

"The Cameron Institute thanks all the professionals who opened their doors to Cal student-athletes for the Cameron Institute Job Shadow Week, and any others who have served as a mentor, hosted student-athletes for internships and attended networking events," said Senior Career Development Advisor Ryan Rodriguez. "Without the participation of professionals in Cameron Institute career programming, we would not be able to reach the needs and diverse interests of student-athletes here at Cal." 

Destiny Okoh, a top member of Cal's No. 3-ranked women's hammer squad, was eager to seize the opportunity to participate in job shadow week in the middle of her track & field competition season. Okoh, a junior who is on the pre-med academic track and a certified EMT, expressed an interest in entering a career in the medical field upon her graduation. Still deciding on her exact career path, Okoh spent time with two hosts in different careers to test out what area she might have the most interest in. 

She spent two days with Cal men's swimming alumnus Dr. Daniel Solomon (class of 1990), an orthopedic surgeon at California Orthopedic & Spine in Marin. There, she shadowed practitioners in the office, observing how outpatient clinics operate.

"I got to meet with a lot of different professionals. Outside of the doctors, I met some medical assistants and clerks who work in the healthcare field as well," Okoh said. "It was amazing interacting with them and the patients post-op and seeing their gratitude towards the staff."

She also spent a day in the operating room shadowing surgical procedures.

"What I do is mostly arthroscopy, so I'm essentially looking at a screen as I'm doing the operation, and somebody who's watching can see everything I am doing and I can talk their way through it," Solomon explained. "Before Destiny came in, I gave her a bit of a sense of what to look at and what to look up beforehand, and I think that little bit of preparedness really helped her in knowing the anatomy and what we were looking at [during the surgery]."

Solomon is heavily involved with the Cameron Institute's 1:1 mentorship program and Athletes in Medicine student-athlete-led organization, and is consistently impressed by the soon-to-be professionals.

"I think both from my mentees as well as the shadows, they all not only have pretty amazing athletic experience but also academic experiences," Solomon said. "When you have somebody who has accomplished both in the classroom and on the playing field, it makes for somebody who has a lot of motivation."

Okoh's job shadowing continued with the Berkeley Fire Department's emergency medical response unit. Already a certified EMT, Okoh was able to assume an especially hands-on role during her shadow day.

"They knew I was an EMT coming in, so they allowed me to take on a larger role, which I did not expect," Okoh said. "It's such a rush knowing you can come to someone's aid and help them in a way that maybe others can't. Being someone that others can call on for help when they're in trouble is genuinely an amazing feeling."

Okoh's experience at the Berkeley Fire Department opened her eyes to a potential future career that she previously had not given much notice to. She credits the Cameron Institute and the job shadow week for helping her gain this clarity on what opportunities lie ahead of her when she graduates from Cal.

"The advisors really catered to the student-athletes by organizing job shadows over spring break. It was an easy process to sign up and they really back you up in finding you opportunities," Okoh said. "They're super attentive, always checking on you to make sure you're engaging with your mentor and giving you more opportunities you can utilize. I've already talked to my other friends who are athletes, sharing the experiences I've had and encouraging them to sign up for the services."

"I think the Cameron Institute has been transformative for Cal student-athletes for a couple of reasons," Solomon added. "One is opening doors in the work environment. I think Cal Athletics already has lots of connections, but the Cameron Institute really solidifies them. For getting into medical school, it is so competitive. Anything like this that the student-athletes can do to get a good sense that they really want to go into medicine is important. Across the board, I think the Cameron Institute's resources that are available and the community connections that have developed over the short time that it's been around is really important for beginning career paths for student-athletes. I'm hopeful that there are more doors that open up as the Cameron Institute develops more relationships in the community."   
 
*Interested in partnering with the Cameron Institute to create more world of work experiences like these for student-athletes? Email the Cameron Institute (CameronInstitute@berkeley.edu) for more information on hosting a student for a job shadow, reserving slots for Cal student-athletes within pre-existing internships at your company, serve as a referral for Cal student-athletes who apply to roles at your company, and more. You can also fill out this form to indicate your interest. 

**The Cameron Institute for Student-Athlete Development was made possible through a generous 12.5 million dollar endowment by C. Bryan Cameron in 2019.