Fifteen dollars for food. Fifty for gas. Seventy five for a new outfit. One hundred for subscriptions. Ten thousand for a car. One hundred thousand for college. These are all expenses that high school students often find themselves paying for, and as the saying goes, “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” Teenagers often find themselves running low on money. Because of this, many high schoolers are in search of a summertime job. For sophomores specifically, this is the first summer of their lives when many can apply for jobs because 16 years old is typically the starting hiring age for most work places.
“Having a summer job helps you develop better spending habits,” sophomore Dylan Cottier said. “When you have an idea of the money that you’re working with, you have a better idea of what you actually need to pay for. There’s also things that you might want, instead of things you need, that you are now able to buy due to having some extra cash.”
There’s a wide variety of jobs around the Four Points area for high schoolers, but the most common ones are those at restaurants or other service industries. Some of these common restaurants include Chick-fil-A, Steiner Ranch Steakhouse, Ski Shores, The Oasis and the Bull Pizza. Even though these jobs typically have the most applicants, people like Cottier still prefer to work at these more traditional jobs.
“[Having a traditional job] has more structure,” Cottier said. “The money that you make is guaranteed, and it’s not necessarily performance based. You can show up to work not as prepared and still make the same amount of money.”
Despite the structure that comes with these types of jobs, some teens prefer working somewhere based on their passions. This includes jobs like music lessons, sports coaching or working at an animal shelter. Sophomores such as William Garrett, Warren Miller, Carson Struck and Gavin Gorrebeeck plan on coaching younger kids through the Steiner Stars Summer Swim Club.
“It’s really special because when I was younger, I was on the same team,” Garrett said. “ I just remember it was so, so much fun, especially hanging out with the older high school coaches who really had a big impact on me. Just being able to be in that same position now and to have an impact on the kids and not just teach them how to swim, but teach them how to be better people and to persevere and work hard. That’s just really, really amazing for me and I’m just super blessed to have that opportunity and be a positive impact on my community.”
While most with jobs in high school usually have a boss that workers report to, some sophomores have taken an unconventional route in employment by starting their own business. Some of these types of businesses include window washing, car detailing and power washing. Sophomores Garrett Newman and Beau Underwood recently started a car detailing business in the Steiner Ranch community.
“Some of the benefits of having your own business are that it makes you understand how to run a business, which is pretty valuable when you’re older,” Newman said. “You also have your own flexibility for hours and don’t have to take off work for emergencies. You can work for yourself, have your own schedule and you’re not making minimum wage.”
According to Garrett, he finds work more enjoyable because he works at the same place as his friends. This can make shifts seem to go by faster while having more fun and creating unique memories from things that take place while on the clock.
“It’s not work where it’s like ‘Oh, I gotta go to work,’” Garrett said. “I get to go hang out with my friends, I get to go hang out with the kids, I get to go do the thing I love, which is swim, and teach kids how to swim and just share that amazing opportunity with everyone. So, I look at it more as just a fun opportunity that I can go do rather than something I have to go do.”
