The Benefits of a High School Job

The Benefit of a High School Job

Faith Call

March 29, 2018

High schoolers going into college have a rough time wrapping their head around paying for college and often find themselves wishing they would have worked and saved some money to help them get a headstart on college debt.

Greg Hymas, a BYU graduate, said, “I had a high school job and my parents made me save 50% of everything I earned, I didn’t like it at the time but once I got to college I really appreciated it.”

According to NewsOK, 1 in 4 high school students have jobs in the U.S.. Having a job in high school can help pay for college, however, there are other ways to help pay for school that high school students can get a head start on.

Kaylee McDaniel a current student at UVU pays for college with a trade she acquired during high school. She got her cosmetology degree in high school and now works as lash stylist.

“I’m so happy,” Kaylee comments, “I learned a skill in high school that I can use now and for the rest of my life; even after college I can use lashes as a side job.”

Many high schoolers at OHS have jobs varying in wages and hours. Sydney Shelley has had a job since she was 16 and is now a senior.

Sydney said, “It’s hard giving up weekends and not being with friends, but I loved working with different people and being able to pay for things myself.”

High school jobs are not only practical for financial reasons, though, high school jobs institute a work ething in kids that colleges are looking for. If you apply for BYU, they look to see what you were involved with in high school, including if you had a job.

Working young creates work ethic in a different way than school does. Although school creates a good work ethic for many, some people simply struggle in school by no fault of their own.

Having a job gives kids a chance to excel at something that they may have an easier time with; if you’re not naturally academic, it’s nice to have the chance to do something that you may be more inclined towards.

Alysa Clark, a high schooler in New Jersey, got a job her senior year in high school and loved it. “It is so nice to go to work and forget about school, I can do what I know and what I’m good at.”

Having a job in high school can help in college not only to get a head start on paying for tuition, books, housing, food, etc. but also to give you work experience that you’ll need once you get a college job.