To me, being a student that is involved in the working class means that I am learning how to be self-sufficient, and slowly becoming an independent person that is preparing to face real-world challenges while also dealing with other responsibilities that involve school and sports programs.

My advice to any student that has a job and is in school is to focus on your health and overall well-being. Making and having money is very nice, and very rewarding, but at the end of the day, you are what matters.

I believe it is very important for people my age to get a job because of the overall experience you gain when working. Holding a job leads to time management skills, learning how to communicate, and work with others, and learning how you operate as a person. I believe it is very beneficial to have these skills at my age in order to be successful at school, work, and life in general.

I decided to get a job to pay for my car and to prepare for when I move out. I am becoming a more independent person and I enjoy having a little bit of freedom, so in order to enjoy my freedom, I have to work and be responsible. No job equals no car, and I really really need my car to get me from practice to school, to work, and home.

Under the conditions of COVID-19, there is nothing that really makes my job any more difficult than what it was before Covid. The only thing that annoyed me was trying to learn everybody’s faces and names with a mask when I first started working. I learn faces before I do names and with a mask I struggled for a little bit trying to remember who was who at work.

As a straight-A student that holds a job and competes in two sports, I have sacrificed a lot of sleep and time that could have been spent with family and friends to keep my grades up. I’m still working to come up with an efficient way to do everything I need to get done while also having time to myself and my family, but I’ve found that having a limited work schedule and getting school work done as soon as possible will leave you enough time to take care of yourself.

The Wrangler: Based on your experience,  what would you say is the best job for someone starting out on their first job and why?

Based on my experience, I think lifeguarding is the best job for someone to start with because of the environment and skills you learn. When you become a lifeguard you are trained to perform CPR, you learn how to use an AED, first aid, and you study blood-borne pathogens. These skills will stay with you for the rest of your life and they can help you save a life whether it’s in the pool or not. You learn how to work well with other people and you develop good communication skills because that is a requirement for the job. Lifeguarding is also a lot of fun because of all the people you get to meet.

The Wrangler: What has been the hardest job you’ve experienced and why?

The hardest job I’ve had so far is working retail at Homegoods. It was kind of an eye-opener for how people can be in the real world and how management alone can affect not only workers but the company as well.

The Wrangler: What would you say your dream job would be and what does that job requires out of you?

My dream job would to be a musician. I feel this would require a lot of time and undivided attention to accomplish what I would like to do through music.

The Wrangler: As our last and final question, what has been the job the taught you the most about what it means to work and why?

Lifeguarding is the job that taught me the most about what it means to work because even though it is a really fun and pretty laid back job, I am the last line of defense when it comes to life and death. I’ve learned to manage and operate multiple pools and keeping people safe is a very serious responsibility at only 16. I’ve learned how important it is to communicate with everybody involved on the job to ensure that facilities remain clean, safe, and operational. Lifeguarding is not all about that though. I have made good friends, learned many valuable lessons, met so many people, and I have had just so much fun because of this job.