Jacob Fisher
Final Comm111 Article
Part Time Jobs: Why Students Work Them and What They Can Learn From Them.
With some exceptions – you can sometimes tell by the cars they drive – most college students need cash. And that means a part-time job.
But do they always want these part-time jobs? Do they all do it for the money, or is there some deeper meaning or experience they are hoping to find?
Take William Fisher, a college student and aspiring doctor. At home and school he is a motivated, caring, and funny individual. However, most nights at work for him are spent dealing with strung out drug addicts or people who are too dangerous or sick to be left by themselves. Fisher is what as known as a “sitter” at Johnson Memorial Hospital. “Essentially my job is to sit with people who too dangerous or hazardous to be left alone, sometimes they can be pretty crazy,” jokes Fisher.
Even though Fisher jokes about his job, it doesn’t make it a walk in the park. He reclaims on many nights he’s been called in to deal with patients that were being extremely violent towards the hospital staff. “There was this one a patient came in and actually broke a hospital staff members arm, they called me over to the wing and told me to take care of him and make sure he didn’t hurt anyone else” says Fisher.
However a job like Fisher’s isn’t that uncommon for people looking for a beginning job in the medical field. Furthermore, skills attained from this job can be used to make an individual better and can be used for other jobs in the future. Fisher stated that his job taught him skills for always expecting the unexpected in the work place and excellent social and people skills for when situations may be extremely serious or hostile. With all of these skills and experiences, Fisher hopes that it may give him a slight advantage when he pursues a career in the medical field later on in life.
Another example of a demanding part time job is the long-standing job of roofing. Even with the inventions of nail guns and all materials being pre-packaged and neatly organized, roofing is no easy job, just ask Marc Welch. Welch is currently a college student who is focusing heavily on his grades. Even though, he is not sure what he wants to be when he grows up, he knows that he doesn’t want to be a roofer. Welch’s need for money for schoolbooks, as well as want of money for his passion of videogames, taught him this lesson over the summer. “I have never worked so hard in my life at job”, says Welch.
A typical day for Welch was to get up around 6 am in the morning and leave for work by 7 a.m. His commute to work could be anywhere from 20 minutes to 40 minutes. Once he arrived at work he was usually greeted by the task of cleaning up any supplies that could have blown around in the night. Next, he would spend most of his day up on a hot roof tearing up the shingles, or carrying up bundles of shingles to the other roofers. This may not sound hard, but considering that he had remove all the nail and shingles on the roof (ranging in the thousands) and carry up one or two bundles at a time that each weighed around 70lbs (usually carrying over twenty in one day), it was tiring work. “Everyday I would come home and collapse on the couch, I was so sore,” Welch tells. “But, with the money I paid for all my books, and got a few new games as well”.
Like, Fisher, many students try to pursue a job that will some how pertain to a career when they grow up. That is why Chris Lafontaine recently became a mall security officer in Manchester, CT. “No, I don’t want to be a mall cop when I grow up,” laughs Lafontaine “but I would like to get involved with that side of the law. I’ve always wanted to be a State Police officer, and maybe even join SWAT.”
And so in hopes of understanding the field a little better and making money on the sides, Lafontaine decided to become a mall security officer. Since joining the security team at the mall, Lafontaine has learned many things. “It changes the way you see things,” comments Lafontaine, “I not the same as I was before. I now look for more things whenever I’m out and about. These things could be anything like the way people act or how the move. My job has come to influence my life. I guess that’s what I learned and what I wanted.”
When asked if he learned anything else, Lafontaine said” Oh, definitely. I’ve learned that everybody’s got their own story and issues, and sometimes you have to take that into consideration when dealing with circumstances. Also, I’ve learned that when you’re roaming the mall for hour on end, you can meet some pretty cute girls”.
Even though many teenagers work jobs based on their dream future careers, many walk into a job and get inspired by it. “I had never wanted to work with kids before,” said Greg Matthews, “but after working this summer as a camp consoler, I could really see myself as a teacher”.
Before working as a camp consoler during the summer, Matthews was an above average college student hoping to become an accountant. Also he had only worked odd jobs for family and friends, as well as being a bag boy and cashier at a chain Supermarket. “None of my jobs inspired me to be something” said Matthews “all I knew was I didn’t want to be a bag boy for the rest of my life or live with my parents doing chores”.
After realizing these things, Matthews dedicated himself to working to become an accountant. And through his dedication, Matthews received several academic rewards as well as acknowledgment from his peers. But when summer came, he could not find himself an accounting internship or job pertaining to accounting.
However, through a friend, Matthews found out about being a camp consoler. So he recounted how he went a few towns over and applied for the job. “ I joked with my friends how I would never get the job, and how the kids would drive me crazy.” said Matthews as he cracked open a can of coke “But deep down inside, I really wanted and kind of needed the job”.
So after a few days had passed, Matthews received a call letting him know that he received the job as part time. He was excited, but nervous as well. Also, being overwhelmed by a hundred kids on his first day of work didn’t help. But after a few days of working, Matthews grew too enjoy his job and actually like some of the kids he worked with. “And then one day it hit me,” said Matthews with a smile on his face “ I realized that I really wanted to make a difference. I know it sounds cheesy but I want to change peoples lives and make them better or easier.”
Matthews hasn’t completely given up on accounting as he still takes classes for accounting and pursues various things that may help him get a job being an accountant. But at the same time, Matthews is doing more research into the field of child education. “Just the other day I went down to my school’s School of Education, and talked to an adviser about what classes I would have to pursue a teaching major.” Said Matthews “If I don’t become an accountant, I could really see myself being a high school.”
So are teenagers now a days solely getting jobs just for a little extra cash on the side or to support a lifestyle they like to live, or are they looking for a deeper meaning from their jobs. With the holidays around the corner it can be hard to tell. With students are heading home from schools, fathers are setting up decorations in the yard, mothers baking delicious holiday meals, and on top of all these things is the holiday tradition of gift giving; it can sometime seem like students are only doing it for the money.
Liz Rigio would argue that students are only doing it for the money. “ I don’t like my job” said Rigio “but it pays well enough and it’s not the hardest thing in the world either.”
Rigio new that she didn’t want to pursue a career in her current job field, and she wasn’t looking for any inspiration. Like many college students before the holidays, she was looking for a job that would pay well enough so that she could buy gifts and also be able to pay for things she likes over her winter break. Rigio works as a clerk at her school in the housing department. She says her job is extremely easy and extremely repetitive. In fact most of the people she works with are fellow students and they say the same.
When asked if she learned anything from her job, Rigio sarcastically said “ Yea, make sure you have a paper copy and a digital copy at all times.”
So it is apparent that students work part-time jobs for various reasons. Some only for money, while others work to find more meaning in a career or their lives. However, one thing can be said sure. Part-time jobs will teach people lessons, new skills, and maybe something about themselves, especially with college students. But, it is safe to assume that none of them will complain about the extra money, especially when they need to gas up their cars, if they have them.
