Sydney Glover
Staff Writer
As we get closer to graduating, the prospect of getting a job becomes more realistic and impending. But what’s it like for the kids who already have jobs and are going to school? What are their stories?
Junior Allie Davis has worked at McDonalds for a year. So she has a vast knowledge of what it’s been like working through the pandemic whilst going to school in all its forms.
“I think the pandemic made it easier [getting a job] in the fact that having workers is very important for McDonalds,” Davis said. She also acknowledges that working was easier when we were in CDL since the school hours were shorter.
Davis believes that having a job in high school is a very enlightening experience. This is because “there’s so many things in life that you’ll never experience in school,” Davis said.
She also went on to say that it gives students real life experiences that they will need in order to succeed in life. Such as how to deal with rude customers and how to surpass expectations. Both of which have helped her become the youngest person at her work to start taking manager courses.
Additionally, Davis also likes that her work environment doesn’t have the social hierarchy that high school does.
“I was able to have conversations with people I would have never had conversations with before,” Davis said. She made friends she says she never would have made at school.
However, she admits that going to school and work can be a struggle. “My current shifts are 6 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday whilst on the weekdays I work 3:15 p.m.-10:00 p.m.,” Davis said. These shifts don’t leave her a lot of time to do her school work. This can sometimes make her stressed about getting assignments turned in on time.
As opposed to others’ jobs and experiences, junior Jayden Goodding was able to get a job that allows her to maintain a lot of balance in her life.
She works for her aunt’s website and does so from home. “I have flexible shifts; about two sets of two hours each week. The first set is due Monday, second set is due Wednesday,” Goodding said. She sets aside time to do the work for her job and time for her homework.
In addition to her job she plays two sports, basketball and volleyball. Therefore, she continues to set up a schedule of when she will go to practice, get schoolwork, and work done.
Jenna Switzer is also a junior and she works as a barista at the Ant Farm Café in Sandy.
“I work a lot of opening shifts on Saturdays, which start at 6:30, so I have to wake up at 5 in the morning,” Switzer said. Balancing school and work for Switzer is not always an easy task.
“It gets pretty busy because I don’t have many free days but since I work on weekends, I have after school to myself. It can get a little overwhelming to go to work early in the morning after a long week of school,” Switzer said.
The problem isn’t that she doesn’t have time to get her homework done; it’s “Having to deal with being exhausted because I never really have a full day off,” Switzer said.
However, not everyone was able to choose both school and work. Senior Ethan Lucore had to make a big sacrifice. He chose online school so that he could continue to work. He works shifts that would not allow him to do both in person school and work.
Although Lucore gave up in person school, he chose to not give up sports. He still plays football, so he has a routine in order to help him manage his time.
“I wake up in the morning and go to work, then I go to practice. In the evening after I get home I am able to get my schoolwork done,” Lucore said.
On the contrary, junior Margaret Fleming chose in person school over her job. Her job, which was working for her father’s company, Golden Airwall Inc, had 10 hour shifts; henceforth, she would not be able to work and go to school.
Fleming got this job in order to “make money to buy my truck, pay for my insurance and to be able to save up if I couldn’t work at some point,” Fleming said.
Nevertheless, Fleming is actively looking for a job at the moment. She says that when she gets a job she will have to “try to make times that I can do work, school, and sports all at the same time.” In short, everyone will have to get a job eventually. But for those who get them in high school, they will have to learn to juggle both school and work.
The Pioneer Press 