Students are always working to try and balance their education and personal lives. Each student goes through this process in their own unique way. For a lot of students, this process becomes a lot more difficult when they have to throw one more weight onto the scale: work. Whether that be fast food, retail or anything in between, taking on a job can be a lot for some students to add to their plate. This choice comes with a lot of questions: ‘Will this limit my personal time? Will I be good enough? Is it even worth it?’
Jack Brubaker is one of those students. However, he has a much different job than most high school students. He builds pitching mounds for the small business Pitcher Perfect, providing for a uniquely enjoyable job.
“I love it,” Brubaker said. “It has the most flexible hours, you make your own schedule, and my boss is amazing.”
Brubaker’s coworker, Benjamin Goldsberry, expressed similar feelings to his colleague.
“I definitely enjoy my job,” Goldsberry said. “It’s really nice that I get to set my own hours so I can work around my school work and sports. My boss, Adam, is the best and my coworkers are great as well.”
While their job does allow for more flexibility than most, both also expressed the difficulty of balancing a job.
“I try and balance my work and school by using a set schedule to do things such as homework so I can then have time to go to work when I need to,” Brubaker said.
Goldsberry also faced challenges when it came to balancing work into his schedule.
“I usually work around 6-7 hours a week,” Goldsberry said. “I work in the evenings after cross country and on weekends. It’s a lot to balance sometimes, but it’s worth it.”
Both Brubaker and Goldsberry have to put in extra effort into juggling work, school, and personal life. Even with this difficulty they both still believe that having a job as a high school student is important
“I think it is important to start making money and saving as a highschooler because it will set you up for a better future,” Goldsberry said.
Brubaker had different reasons to believe that having a job in high school is important.
“I personally feel it’s important that students in high school get a job if they have the time,” Brubaker said. “This is because jobs give students real world experiences that they will have to do after schooling. Like paying taxes, working with coworkers, and customer service.”
Their jobs haven’t just given them skills for life outside of high school, but also have
prepared them for the real world.
“I feel the skills that I have learned from having a job can be seen in school,” Brubaker said. “As well with me learning how to talk and collaborate with others, how to problem-solve issues that I come across, and finally I learned what it takes to make the best product I can make.”
