Clare Donaher
With our whole lives ahead of us, it’s hard to imagine the redeeming prospects of maintaining a part time job while still in high school. Many students consider getting a job for money, whether it’s to save up for college, or just the independence of being able to go to the mall without begging your mom for cash. However, with the theme of this month’s newspaper being “labor,” I decided to investigate the other perks of having a job in high school. Thankfully, I know many talented and hardworking students at out high school, and I was able to interview them for the purpose of this article.
I interviewed three girls with very different but equally redeeming jobs. The first was Ana DerSimonian, a part time modeling junior at Radnor High school. Ana is fortunate and talented enough to have a job that she genuinely enjoys and may pursue a future in. This interested me, because it suggested that students could really have a head start on their future careers, even if they haven’t even graduated yet. I asked Ana to rate the difficulty of her job, and she gave me a solid yet challenging 8/10. She confessed that sometimes modeling was stressful, explaining how Philly Fashion Week is one of the most time consuming and stressful periods of her job. Of course, it didn’t help that this particular week was right before our school year started. Ana began her modeling career as a freshman, after being encouraged countless times by her friends and classmates to give it a shot. The longer she worked at this practice, the more opportunities she earned, and the more experienced she began. Ana’s experiences are a testament to what could happen if you go after what you want.
The second girl I was able to interview was Olivia Robinson. As many girls at our school do, Olivia currently works in retail at Spring Mill Bread. She rated her difficulty level at somewhere between a 6-7/10. Olivia began this job in search of more responsibility. Although her job is sometimes stressful, Olivia agrees that she has learned a lot from this experience, such as working with customers, sales, and the overall idea of being in a working environment. Olivia definitely recommends a job like this to anyone searching for a part time job, and advises potential workers to not be afraid of putting themselves out there. This job is a perfect example of a work many of us will probably have to execute at some point in our lives.
The final girl I interviewed for my article was Caroline Scheinfeld. As a strong member of RadTV, she was able to get the amazing opportunity of an internship as a production assistant for Merryweather Films, a wedding videography company based in Narberth. She admits that most her job is relatively easy, but the actual filming is much more difficult. (Apparently she has super shaky hands!) Caroline insists that her job is not stressful at all, mostly because she’s doing something she’s passionate about. “Weddings are such fun, exciting events and the atmosphere is always bursting with joy. Plus, you meet a lot of interesting people,” she explained. Since Caroline definitely wants to pursue a career similar to her internship, she says that she has learned so much from her job. Caroline’s job shows that it’s possible for someone to get a part time job in areas you might be interested in.
Overall, these three girls gave me the same message: part time jobs in high school have many, many advantages. These girls seem to already have a head start in their lives, which will make it all the more easier for them as they grow older. The advice they gave me to convey in my article was to go after what you want, do what you love, stay organized, and apparently, it never hurts to wear comfortable shoes. (Unless, of course, you decide to follow in Ana’s footsteps. If you want to model, prepare for lots and lots of heels.)