Ava Dziadzio ’19, News Editor
High school is a time when kids are allocated more freedom in school and life, but with this new found freedom, there are choices to be made and responsibilities to be had. One particular question every high schooler faces at some point may bring them outside the comfort of the school walls, making their ever-growing liberty more apparent: should you get a job? Many SLHS students have answered yes, and they share their story on working as a student.
Sophomore Kelsey Chalmers has been a receptionist at Evolve Salon on 10 Mile since the end of June. The salon is the perfect place for her to work because she gets “discounts all the time” for hair products, and she said, “I love doing my hair.” However, a downside of the job, she said, is working on Friday nights because she “miss[es] the football games” and other fun activities.
Junior Reanna Watkins works near the school at Pinz Bowling Center as a party host and a porter. She works Saturdays and Thursdays because she is “trying to save up for a car.” She thinks working at Pinz is fun, but if she had another option, she would want to “work with animals.”
Freshman Olivia Diens has been employed at Novella’s Pizza on Grand River Ave. since the beginning of October, but she worked at McDonald’s earlier this year. Like Watkins, she too wants to “save up for a car” among other things, and she sometimes wishes they gave her more hours to work.
Junior Ben Masters got a job at TCBY in August so he could “have money to spend,” because, he admitted, he “buys a lot of shoes.” Masters said his job is “pretty fun and easy,” and he gets a good amount of hours, but he would rather be “an umpire for baseball” if he could.
All four students said they did not find it terribly difficult to balance school work and their job responsibilities. Both Chalmers and Masters said they do their homework when there are not any customers to attend to, and Watkins said she works later in the night and on weekends, so she can get hers done before she clocks in.
Overall, these working high schoolers would say to anyone considering applying for a job, there is nothing to be worried about. Watkins suggested finding a business that is “flexible” with its employees, and Chalmers recommended seeking out jobs in places where you like to shop.
Choosing to work may have its downsides, but these students agree that it is not too difficult to find a job and stick with it. So, as Masters said, if you want some extra cash, go “get the money.”
Photo courtesy of Crossfit Max
Lyon Life 