Have you ever wondered where students go after school ends? Do they go straight home? Maybe to friends’ houses. Well, most older students go straight to work.
For students, having a job can be a great way to learn about the world and gain real-world experience. Whether they choose to work or their parents make them work, balancing school and work can be a good challenge. It also prepares students for college, where they balance early-morning and late-night classes, work, and time to study and rest.
One of the largest industries is customer service, which accounts for about 25% of all jobs. According to Qualtrics.com, 27.85% of that 25% is Retail Trade, 15.33% is Professional and Administrative Services, 13.74% is Finance and Insurance, and 9.35% is Hospitality and Food Services.
Most students who have jobs work in the Food Service or Retail/Sales industries. I interviewed mostly juniors, including Ella Gorzka and Emmet Hojnoski, and seniors, including Giovanni Parent and Kenadee Comstock.
I also interviewed some teachers who had interesting past experiences, including Laura Dunbar, Joseph Kurnath, and Andrew Purdie.
11th Grade Employment
Most juniors are just starting their job searches or already have a job. And while working, they’re balancing schoolwork and college visits. It’s an overwhelming amount of things to do before we reach the end of the school year.
For juniors like Emmet Hojnoski, you have to balance a lot of different jobs inside one big job. Emmet works at Regal Cinemas and has many job responsibilities, including working concessions, selling tickets, scanning tickets, cleaning, and talking to customers.
Of course, it’s difficult to balance work and school without getting overwhelmed. Emmet decides to do something healthy to relieve that stress. “I usually leave one to two nights to myself during the week, which is usually Monday and Sundays, and I do self-care.” This is a healthy way to relieve stress during overwhelming times.
Another junior with a similar experience of overwhelming, yet productive, time management is Ella Gorzka. She works at Mulconry’s Irish Pub and Restaurant as a busser/runner.
There is also something special that the Pub does. “We have bands on Saturday nights. And Mr. Muscarella plays in a band that performs at my work a lot.” This is a great opportunity for bands to become known by the community, and it’s so fun that Ella gets to experience this when she works.
As for balancing school and work, Ella’s mom had hired her because she is the regional manager. So she only works on Saturdays to avoid becoming too busy during the week. She does her schoolwork on Saturday morning, and works that afternoon from 4 pm-10 pm, and also has all of Sunday.
The school week isn’t as stressful as it seems for many juniors if you manage your time properly, making sure you have time for yourself, friends, and family, and that your schoolwork doesn’t slip.
Seniors At Work
As for seniors, it’s a completely different story. Many seniors famously suffer from “senioritis,” when seniors barely show up to school, grades become less important, and senior privileges are increasingly taken advantage of—basically, just a major decrease in effort throughout the last year of high school.
Starting with a musically articulate person, Giovanni Parent, who works as a cashier at Wegmans. Although it isn’t a large job, it requires a lot of communication. However, he also advocates taking on other jobs when needed, which is a good quality.
But how is the balance between work and school not overwhelming? “It really depends on what is most important in the moment.” He focuses on priorities on a week-to-week basis. “I’m going to do school work this week. I’ll focus on college another week, I’ll focus on something else another week.” Although it’s a nice rotation, it can be really easy to get behind because you may forget about the other two things in a given week.
As for senioritis, “I’ve met so many adults in my life and even in college that are just normal and that are cool people, and I’m done with high school.”
Kenadee Comstock works in the food service industry at Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters, a common stop for many residents of Victor, Farmington, and Canandaigua. Kenadee works a few shifts a week, which can get pretty crazy and busy. Along with making coffee and drinks, she also cleans and organizes, does dishes occasionally, and cleans the machines.
However, this isn’t the only thing she does to fill her time. Going to college in New York City, she pursues photography in her free time and plans to study the Arts.
Since she graduates this year, she is feeling good about having only these next 3 months of high school left. When asked about senioritis, her response had us both laughing for quite a while, “It hit me first year. Get me out of here. I’m here like 10 percent of the time.”
Our seniors have only 3 months left until graduation on June 22. A few weeks of the quarter remain, and then the final run approaches as we approach the last quarter of the school year. To seniors, you’ll be missed!
Teachers Before The Classroom
The teachers here at Victor didn’t start their professional journey teaching. Of course not! Many of them worked in the same industries as our students. I interviewed three beloved teachers whom everyone knows and loves. Mr. Purdie, Mr. Kurnath, and Mrs. Dunbar.
Mr. Purdie teaches both U.S. History Regents and AP U.S. History, as well as Driver’s Education. He had by far the most unique job when he attended Victor as a teenager. He worked at a cemetery until the beginning of college.
Although it’s difficult to relate his job there to students now, he says, “to avoid doing this for life, you needed to get a degree. So it motivated me to get my grades up and get my stuff done.” And when asked for advice, he replied, “Balance the three s’s: sleep, studying, and social life.”
Mrs. Dunbar teaches Biology Regents, AP Biology, and Medtech. She had a more common job in high school, working at Sears. She recommended, “Shadow people and go talk to people who have jobs.”
For some extra advice, “Really knowing what people go through and seeing it is the only way to really figure out what you wanna do.”
Additionally, I also interviewed with Mr. Kurnath, who worked in the food service industry in high school. “I was a busboy at Burgundy Basin Inn, which was a banquet hall in Pittsford.” He worked there when he was a junior, and it was his first real “punch-in, punch-out” job.
“You gotta be on time. I clocked in late a couple of times, and then I got called into the office, and he was like ‘Get your stuff together. You need to be here on time.'” It taught him that being on time is important at any job and shows responsibility.
For all the students currently working, consider the advice our teachers give you. They’ve been through it all. A first job, application process, bad bosses, etc. When they give you advice, listen.
Wrap It Up!
We heard from two juniors, two seniors, and three teachers. Juniors are just starting their search for what they want to do, seniors are about to leave to begin their lives as adults, and teachers are still crushing it in their daily lives.
We received valuable advice for our students and learned about teachers’ past experiences. Some are unique, and some are casual. It turns out senioritis isn’t hitting our seniors as much as usual, and our juniors already know what they’ll do in the future.
So, to conclude, get a job! It’s a big responsibility, but it’s a valuable experience. It may be hard now, but you can find anything in low and high places. Good luck!
