While some students traveled during February conference, a large group of seniors from all five high schools participated in Career Opportunities On Location (COOL) week. Students were able to job shadow at businesses that LISD has connections with from previous years’ COOL week.

Maria Young visited Northwest Surgery Center for her COOL week experience and was able to watch doctors perform real surgeries. She saw things such as tonsil removals, and other various surgery procedures such as surgery preparation and recovery.

“The coolest thing I got to see was a tumor being removed from a young girl’s neck,” Young said. “The surgeon let me stand right by him and watch the whole entire thing and now the girl is cancer free. So it was pretty cool and it took about two-and-a-half hours.”

At Texas State, Young plans to study in the medical field. She isn’t sure exactly what she wants her job to be, but says that COOL week helped her narrow it down. Her ultimate goal, as of right now, is to work with surgery, but she may start out as a nurse or a job similar to that.

“I got to see what my everyday job would be like,” Young said. “I got to speak to many people about where they went to college, what processes and steps to get to where they wanted to be. It was just really helpful, and seeing all the surgeons helped me want to be a surgeon more because I just find it so fascinating.”

COOL week takes place every year during the week of February conference and is open to all seniors, who must undergo an application process in the fall semester.

“I recommend COOL week,” Young said. “It helps a lot. It’s not just for missing school. It really helps.”