Summer Jobs

By Nathan Kistler

Now that ESHS has returned to operation, I look back on my summer vacation with fondness and a bit of regret. For the seniors, since many are going to college or working next summer (including me), this summer was potentially the last three-month vacation until they are 65. Like many students, I got a job this summer to make extra spending money. For this reason, working as a lifeguard was a positive experience, although sometimes I had second thoughts.

My job was simple. I woke up at 7 AM to clean the pool and then I paced the pool deck all day watching the swimmers, until it was time to go home in the late afternoon. The whole summer occurred without any injuries or near drownings. The monotony of this job led me to question whether I wanted this job or not. I would have rather spent time with friends, than spent time at the pool. I wanted to have more free time in my summer, but as Senior Eric Rhoades said, “I missed hanging out with some friends when I worked, but I earned money to pay off my car.” Junior Shakeel Khwaja felt that, “Summer jobs are useless; they are only for those who don’t have lives.” I’m sure many of those who had summer jobs didn’t get to have the free time that everyone enjoys. For this reason, summer jobs are bad. Among these, lifeguarding is one of the jobs I do not recommend because it is very boring.

Although I didn’t have a spectacular experience with my job, other students chanced upon work that was more rewarding than just a paycheck. “I volunteered at the Memorial Sloan-Ketting Cancer Center Neurology Research Lab over the summer in New York, which was a great learning experience for me,” said Senior David Werthiemmer, “I worked with cloning, ordering materials, and mice with brain tumors.” Summer jobs don’t take away from one’s summer experience if one can find a job one thoroughly enjoys. Lifeguarding isn’t always a fulfilling position, because one doesn’t get to use their rescue skills and one really doesn’t want to have to use them. The reason I didn’t do volunteer work, however, is because there wasn’t any monetary reward for doing it. For this reason, I would not advocate any volunteer work.

Others enjoyed their job, but had some problems still. “My summer job was teaching surf lessons at El Porto. The worst part about this job is that it was really hard to push all the fat kids into the waves,” states Junior Eddie Lester. As with any job, there will always be some complications, but it is best if one tries not to concentrate on them. In my job, the thing I liked least was the boredom. While lifeguarding I stood and watched the swimmers, and had to know what to do in the event of an emergency. Since disasters occur infrequently, there wasn’t much too be done. There was no opportunity for a break during the day either. I tried to make the most of it by paying attention to the pool and trying to find amusement in watching the swimmers. Often physical jobs are more work than reward. Teaching kids how to surf would take a long time. Since physical jobs take a good amount of time and they don’t pay as much as jobs that require skills, but don’t require physical labor, I wouldn’t work at a job like this either.

Summer jobs are great for getting the money many students wish to earn, but they should remember that they are on vacation. I hope that those who wish to take on a summer job realize that their time in High School is limited and their vacation days are running out. I hope that students who had a summer job, but didn’t enjoy it too much will learn to make the best of their spare time. Students have plenty of options on how to spend their summer. They should pick their summer job, if they choose to have one at all, carefully.