I don't think about working at Mayo Clinic everyday, but when I attend National Conferences, people hear me say Mayo Clinic and they listen. It is a reputation thing, and it speaks to the quality of our medical care.

I spend my mornings offering support and encouragement to patients who are going in for surgery. From there, I meet with my other patients who are in the hospital and attend any scheduled meetings. I spend my days interacting with the patients, whether in the playroom, in their hospital room, or sometimes I even interact with them during their procedures. Most of what I do is prepare children for tests and procedures, and then support them through those tests, answer questions, explain things, and help them cope. Every hospital is different, but at Mayo we provide Child Life coverage Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.; and then weekends and holidays from 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. There are 8 of us and we stagger our schedules so that there are at least 1-3 people here at 7:30 a.m., and then another specialist arrives at 9:00 a.m., and another at 11:00 a.m. We also have two staff members who work in the pediatric emergency room.

I love meeting new people in my job, plus each day is different.
I never know what is going to happen when I go to work. It is great to be with the kids and their families. My job is really rewarding. Sometimes a kid will come up to me and say "Thank you so much, you really helped me," or "You made things go better." That is a great feeling! Sometimes they'll struggle with something at first, and then I get the satisfaction of teaching them how to cope with it and work through the issue to a successful ending. You have to love kids in this job! If you don't love children, you're not going to want to do this.

Try a lot of different classes and work/volunteer opportunities. We recommend students wanting to be Child Life Specialists to volunteer at a nursing home or hospital. Through those opportunities, you will experience the sounds and smells of healthcare, which may help you decide whether this is a field you may enjoy.