By: Ella Carney and Ciera Sesock
Lots of teenagers around the world have part-time jobs to earn a little extra cash. And that includes students here at Redwood. Interestingly enough, according to CNBC.com, the average number of students who have a job in high school has dropped from 50% to 35% since the year 2000 due to the intensity being amped up in schools. But, tons of students have taken on working and attending school.
Ethan Lewis ’20 joined the team at Jack in The Box as a cashier and drive-thru in the month of July when he was 16 years old. Due to this job, Lewis has gotten a lot better at time management. For instance, Lewis makes sure to do the majority of his homework on non-work days. He says that, “just little things like that have taught me good time management skills.”
“My stepdad really motivated me to get my job, he told me practically every day since I was 15 to go and look for one. he would send me out to Main street to look for local businesses and ask if they were hiring.” Says Lewis.
While having a job has lots of pros such as the money, meeting new people, learning life skills and just gaining tons of experience, there are still cons Lewis says. For example, stress, some difficulty with management, difficult customers along with balancing school and work. Lewis’s favorite part about the job is, “meeting a lot of cool new people who I have a lot of fun working with! And the money.”
“Try your hardest to work before high school is over. the market is oversaturated with inexperienced college workers. when you get to that level, set yourself apart by getting that experience.”
Some advice Lewis’s stepdad told him that he says he will never forget.
Lewis isn’t the only student at Redwood that has a job. Jean Beny Stahl ’20 works at Wimpys Hamburgers in downtown Visalia. Just like Lewis, he works to succeed in both his academics and at his job.
According to Stahl, keeping a job in high school can be a major challenge, but he decided that he was up for it. Previously in his life, everything was just handed to him, and he realized that he needed and wanted a change. He began to search for a job so that he could “become self reliant.”
Being a working high schooler has allowed Stahl to learn valuable lessons about life, like how to be independent, how to manage his time, and the importance of responsibility. Managing his time is definitely the key to his success. Stahl does not just have to worry about acing all his classes and making it to work on time, but he also has to worry about playing his heart out on the soccer field. This is a huge challenge because he has to balance his time between being on the Redwood varsity boys soccer team, his academics, and his job.
Stahl finds it a challenge to stay on top of all his activities, but it isn’t impossible. He says, “I have to communicate a lot and make sure my schedules are not conflicting.”
Getting a job as a teenager is a great achievement and many people get their first job around the age of high school. If you are motivated enough you can do anything.