by Sarah Gray

Life Through the Eyes of a Student Worker

The machine beeps in sync as the numbers of her employee identification code are typed in. It had just turned 4 p.m., a long day at school just passed and a long shift awaits ahead. Officially clocked in, senior Payton Conner begins her work duties for the night.

17 year old Payton Conner is one of many students in America who has responsibilities of an outside job as well as the responsibilities of school. According to NewsOk.com, one in four high school students in the U.S. hold a part time job. Along with this job, they have the responsibility of maintaining their grades and once you add a social life this task can be extremely difficult.

¨As far as keeping up with school work goes, it is definitely challenging, especially if it is your first job. You can benefit many ways from a job, but just because you get a job does not mean you should push your school responsibilities to the side,¨ senior Payton Conner said.

Holding a job in high school teaches one time management skills, personal finance skills, and increases one's ability to deal with other people, but many, including Conner, would advice not to take a job if you can not handle a workload from school and a job.

¨If you can't handle both, it's fine. Do not worry about it, your education should be your biggest priority at this age,¨ Conner said.

Sophomore Alex Turner is employed at Dreyer and Reinbold, and he always makes sure he is completely organized. Organization is one of the many vital habits someone could develop to make having a job easier. Some find it helpful to make a daily planner or just keep their school work neat and seperated from the work they get from their job.

¨I always make sure I have everything I'm going to do planned out. If I know I am going to work on a night I have a lot of homework, I make sure I set aside time before I go on my shift and after I go on my shift to get it done,¨ Turner said.

As mentioned before, time management is one of the skills one can obtain while having a job as a high school student, but if one fails to have good time management while employed it could hurt them and their grades. It is important to balance one's time between school, work, and social life.

¨It helps kids fall into a routine, time management is a skill you are going to need the rest of your life its best if you learn it now. Although, this could hurt the students because most are all about the pursuit of making money. It just hurts them in the long run,¨ mrs. Nicki Manion, a teacher at Mooresville High School, said.

Having a job in high school will show colleges that one is motivated and wants to succeed. If the student is getting good marks on their report cards and have a good resume, colleges will be more likely to accept them. Also, hopefully a job will encourage one to go into an actual career field and enjoy their job for the rest of their life.

¨Overall, from personal experience, I have learned that balance is the best way to handle it all. Sometimes with a job it is hard to find time for everything, but you should always take time to take care of yourself. I personally think that having a social life is important to your mental health. So, do not get caught up in all the working and remind yourself to be a high schooler, go to the games, go out with friends, and just have fun,¨ Conner said.

In other words, do not get caught up on the hype of having money. Enjoy the high school years and only take on what can be handled, either way a student is going to grow and mature as a person in those 4 years of their lives.