This summer many students will have the opportunity to work different jobs in order to earn money for summer expenses. There are employers looking to hire teens for the summer and students should make sure to spend their summers working jobs that best fit them.
Life Guard
One of the more notorious summer jobs, lifeguarding is great for those who want to work during the day and play at night. Spending long days on the stand is conducive to that perfect golden tan that most teen’s seek, and having the lives of swimming kids in your hands can be very rewarding. The job requires a certification course that expects applicants to swim up to 500 yards, learn many lifesaving techniques such as CPR and mouth-to-mouth, and do some challenging tasks such as rescue fellow trainees from “drowning.” So while lifeguarding may seem like a whole bunch of sitting around, any soon-to-be lifeguards should be aware of all the demanding athletic requirements.
Ice-cream Scooper
With summer heat comes a huge demand for ice-cream. After hot days under the sun, ice-cream sounds like an extremely welcoming treat. As the need for frosty treats builds so does the need for those who scoop it. Working in an ice-cream parlor is a great job for those who aren’t fans of the beating sun. “Working at Maggie Moos’s is great,” said Maggie Young, sophomore and newly employed Maggie Moo’s scooper. “Once this kid came in and ordered a brownie sundae. Once I had went through the entire process of making sundae he realized he didn’t have enough money to pay for it, so he just walked out. I asked my manager what to do and she told me just to eat it. The free ice-cream is definitely a perk.” For those that wish to spend their summers indoors, and not massive amounts of time in training, ice-cream scooping may be the job for you.
Camp Counselor
As a summer camp counselor myself, I can vouch for the job. “Getting paid to play” is the best part about it: soccer, swimming and foursquare are all common occurrences at summer camp. But while it seems like a lot of play, keeping track of 16 excited children is not the easiest task. One that wishes to be a camp counselor must be able to control a group and be a leader, but at the same time have enthusiasm and be willing to get messy. If the thought of doing silly things such as competing in dance-offs or getting chocolate syrup poured over your head makes you squirm, it’s probably not the job for you. “I enjoy working with kids, so it’s a good job for me,” said Harrison Smith, day camp counselor at the YMCA. “It’s a demanding job, and we don’t get paid much, but it’s fun so it’s worth it. I also don’t have to work nights or weekends which is nice.”
Cleaners
Another job for those who wish to stay indoors, Dry Cleaning companies are usually willing to hire high school students. The job does not require much training, and requires workers to sit behind the counter and return clothes to those who have previously dropped them off. Shelby Willard, who works at Brother’s Cleaners, can speak for the job: “It’s alright; sometimes you find money in the pockets of people’s clothes that you can keep, which is nice.”
Katy has been on staff since her sophomore year, starting as a staff writer. With hard work and diligence, she earned a junior editor position and ultimately became Editor-in-Chief her senior year. She will pursue a degree in journalism in college.