Students see their peers every day, walking from class to class, enjoying lunch together and talking among themselves. For many of them, the day does not end after school; they clock in at shopping malls, restaurants, retail shops and even their own businesses. Finding a balance between having a job and keeping up with school work can be difficult, but it is a common part of teen life and is possible.
Most teens take on more responsibility for their spending habits during high school. There are many reasons a student might take a job; most have to do with the goal of financial independence. They want to start saving for necessities like a car, college,e or helping their family with groceries. Although teens work and get jobs as a choice, there are some families that rely on them to help with living expenses, such as rent, gas, and necessities like clothes and shoes.
Besides money, there are other benefits to working. This includes gaining work experience, practicing communication skills, dressing in a professional manner and teamwork skills for future careers or adult responsibilities. Having a job or running a business can boost a student’s self-esteem and improve how they talk to their peers, adults and even improve their way of handling disagreements. Showing up every day at their job can prove someone has dedication, commitment and responsibility.
Aside from having a job, teens are students first, and balancing both can be a difficult task. Students have to complete homework, class assignments, work with others for team projects and still clock into their work shift to end the day. This can create an overwhelming mindset and can even lead to burnout if they are not resting properly.
Teens running their own businesses pour the same amount of time and energy into talking to customers, taking order
s, all while still juggling school work and studying for tests. Employed or self-employed students often make sacrifices to get their work done, like staying up late and losing sleep just to meet a deadline.
Senior Karissa Moreno works at Miniso, a shop inside the West Covina mall. She enjoys financial freedom, but frequently feels left out of friend or family outings because her work schedule takes up the weekend and after-school hours.
“Last weekend, my friends were getting together at her house, but I worked until 9:30 p.m. I still went over after for a bit, but I think at first I was getting a little bit of FOMO, but I signed myself up for this. I kind of got used to not being able to do what everybody else does,” Moreno said.
Sophomore Valerie Venegas runs her own treat-making business where she bakes goods such as brownies, cookies, tres leches cakes and recently expanded to selling chocolate-covered strawberries. She balances both work and school by breaking apart her time into rest time, homework and then baking. However, sometimes she gets tied up with orders, causing her to finish late both with baking and school assignments.
“Some days I get too tired and I stay up, the latest I stayed up was until 1, and I totally forget I have to do an assignment or I have to do this, and I just take the bad grade, but I end up making it up, but not for the full credit,” Venegas said.
Similar to Venegas, senior Mathias Murillo works at the fast food restaurant, Wendy’s, three days a week and sometimes has trouble completing homework on time while still getting proper rest. He finds balancing sleep, school work, and work hours a struggle and sometimes sacrifices sleep or takes a bad score on an assignment due to his tireless work schedule.
“That’s something that’s really messing me up, because I go home but its not like I do my schoolwork, I do one to two pages of my homework then I fall sleep, I always say im going to do it in class but I never do it because I’m sleepy, but I’ve been managing a lot, and I really want to improve my grade,” Murillo said.
Balancing both school and job is a reality for many students, and it comes with its challenges and benefits. Although working can be stressful, it helps teens grow in their time management, independence and helps prepare them for the real world. These are all positives of being employed, but they must prioritize health.
“After work, I usually take a shower, and I try to relax asap because working fast food gets really overstimulating, and also you come out of work smelling like chicken nuggets, fries, shakes, I need to take a shower and relax, get home, watch TV and put on a show,” Murillo said.
