Thanks to current child labor laws in America, we don’t have to worry about getting a job until the age of 16. For most people, that’s around late sophomore year or early junior year of high school. While AHS also offers underage students to work in a job-like setting in DECA, at that point, there’s a few factors that may influence a student’s choice of whether they want a real job in high school or not.
For AHS senior Daniel Ewing, it was his parents; “they were very big pushers, ‘cause they were paying my car insurance…so they were very ecstatic when I got my job”. Daniel has been working at Pizza Hut since August. Working there has been a relief to him, considering that he had sent about 40 applications to various places before actually getting a job.
When a student makes the choice of working in high school, they take on another set of responsibilities. Besides the age-old struggle of juggling school, social activities, and sports, a certain daunting responsibility is tacked on when a job is mixed in. That responsibility is money. Having to deal with money in high school inches those students dealing with it closer and closer to adult life.
For junior Denise Morgan, she has a slightly different experience with money than most employees. She works at the Smokey Point commissary, where her only source of income is the tips she gets from the customers.
“I like having tips because you get it right away and sometimes we make more than minimum wage” she shares. Denise also explains how she usually puts about half of her earnings into a savings account for college, and the other half on her card.
These students are doing an excellent job on getting a head start into the working world.