When students turn 14, they are able to obtain a worker’s permit and get a part-time job outside of their schooling. Some students will assume a job as soon as they get their permit, while others choose to wait until later in their high school career.
Junior Talen Turiano recently got a job working as a server’s assistant at Texas Roadhouse. His job has taught him new skills and reinforced existing ones.
“I’ve learned teamwork and how to stay organized,” Turiano said.
Senior Emily Berkheimer works at Hollister. Like Turiano, she has also learned skills from her job.
“I’ve learned how to manage my time and put in effort,” Berkheimer said. “With having to balance school and extracurricular activities, I really need to make sure I’m communicating with people from all areas about where I need to be and when.”
According to Berkhimer, the positive factors of working outweigh the negative ones.
“I think that you gain the responsibility, and you meet so many new people. I love working with my co-workers there, they’ve become my really close friends,” Berkhimer said.
Berkheimer is a member of the drama club. During the practice season for a given show, cast members are required to stay after school until 5 p.m. for multiple days each week.
“It can take up a lot of time,” Berkheimer said. “As long as I communicate with my job that I have to be at practice, or I communicate with my teachers that I need to be at work, they’re really understanding and can work around it.”
Seniors are able to split their time between a job and schooling through the work experience program.
“Some students are at big time internships, like working for Blair Image Elements. It’s a really great program,” adviser Matthew Dumm said.
Dumm worked at a grocery store when he was in high school which impacted his perspective on students with jobs in high school.
“I can kind of understand what they’re going through,” Dumm said. “I wasn’t in a work experience program, so I had to budget my time even further. I played sports at times in high school. It was a difficult balance.”
Being a well rounded student means balancing all different aspects of high school and adolescence. Turiano is also in multiple extracurricular activities and must juggle his time.
“I just try to work my schedule around it all,” Turiano said.
Despite his busy schedule, Turiano encouraged himself to get a job.
“One of my friends’ moms told me that [Texas Roadhouse] was hiring and I decided to apply and I got the job,” Turiano said.
This work experience can provide students with a branch of financial help as well.
“They’ve [students] earned internships in which they’re paid when they leave here. They go to work, they’re paid and they work on the actual project,” Dumm said. “They’re prioritizing their life… Some students have actually said to me ‘this really saved me. This allowed me to not take an elective and go out and make some money; help my family out.’ We have some students who genuinely help out at home with finances.”
Resources, like work experience, offer students a hand inside and outside of school, preparing them for whatever path they may take after graduation.
