A flyer on a New York lightpole asks a favor of strangers with cool jobs and big hearts. Let a 16-year-old shadow you, it says. The kid behind it is Avi Lichtenstein, a high-school junior. He lies awake at night wondering what he'll do with his life. So he spent about $500 of his savings to go find out.
He came up with the plan last month, the Journal's Joseph Pisani reports. He paid two guys from Craigslist to put up more than 300 flyers. He made 17 poster designs, and all but one has his selfie on it. He picked the fonts and emojis for people in their 20s and 30s. He figured a 50-year-old wouldn't scan the code. The goal is one shadow day a week this school year. He applies to colleges next year, and he'd like to know what for.
His mom liked the idea, but she worried about who might answer. So there's a screen. Anyone who scans the QR code fills out a questionnaire, uploads a photo and adds a LinkedIn link. Then there's a video call, and his parents review the applications. The first reply came a day after the signs went up. He spent three hours with a pet groomer. He asked how she trained, what her days look like and whether the work still makes her happy. A school psychologist gave him a 90-minute video call but couldn't let him shadow her, for privacy reasons. He also sat in while a satellite-radio station put together its morning show.
He shows up with business advice
Then came a noodle shop in the Bronx. He spent a few hours with the co-owner while she made bowls. Before he left, she asked if he wanted a job. He now works there part time, and he brings ideas nobody asked for. He designed a flyer for an $18 lunch deal for teachers and students. The shop printed it. He suggested a logo tent for food festivals. The shop bought one. He talked his way into directing a TikTok. His own TikTok about the signs got 300,000 views and more than two dozen new requests. Next he may ride along on a morning flight from Newark to Washington with an airline captain. He keeps a spreadsheet of who he's shadowed and what he learned. “I still don't know what I want to do with my life,” he says.
Our read
This is a Career story, and it's the cheapest career research we've seen all year. About $500 bought him honest looks at real jobs before a single tuition dollar left the house. Most families do it the other way around. They pay for four years first, then find out. His three older siblings didn't sort it out until they were already in college. He didn't want to wait. The spreadsheet is the part we'd copy. Write down what you saw, what you'd hate, and what surprised you.
Here's the connection to your own plan. Maybe you've got a 529 plan, the tax-favored college savings account, or any college fund with a teenager's name on it. That money has a job, and the job isn't picked yet. Before you sign the first loan paper, ask your kid to spend three hours with someone who does the work they say they want. This week, pull up the 529 balance and put one shadow day on the calendar next to it. The flyers were a $500 insurance policy on a six-figure decision. You don't buy the umbrella after you're soaked, and we're glad to walk through a college plan whenever you'd like.