School \ Work Part-Time Student Workers By
Jacob Lopez
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Nick Coleman sighs as he looks into the eyes of an expectant woman. Her pursed lips and aggressive stance fully display her irritation at Nick as he ponders how to tell her that she is not getting any coupon regardless of how many she “has in her car.” He tries to explain that his manager doesn’t allow him to do that and even though another cashier, some other time, gave her a coupon, he still can’t give her one. This is just a daily occurrence for him, with a surprising amount of people coming in to Bed, Bath and Beyond every day. On the other side of Mountain View, Chingun Erkhembayar serves up boba tea to a variety of people. Awkward timing or manning
two students are different, both are exhibiting signs of professional growth and character development. Working to please customers has given them a newfound sense of understanding for their fellow workers in all kinds of shops and restaurants. With the new age of millennials armed with smartphones and what an older generation would call a “sense of entitlement” entering the workforce, maybe it’s time to ask ourselves whether basic conventional beliefs still apply to a new generation, like life is all about “pulling yourself up
Nick Coleman
“With the new age of millennials armed with smartphones and what an older generation would call a “sense of entitlement” entering the workforce.” the store solo might mean that Chingun doesn’t get a rest for a few hours, but overall, he would say that enjoys his Sundays at Tapioca Express. Although these 2
by the bootstraps” or that “you should pay for college by yourself like I did.” Historically, people believed that working during school has positive effects, but
there is a new shade of grey emerging in what many believe is a black and white matter. Many people argue that working has many negative effects on students. Things
like stress and poor time that occur throughout the lower grade, his grade most management can affect week. A study on the effects likely would have taken a many students’ grades. Nick “Ezra mentions struggling with a lack of Coleman, senior in high school study time and a desire to do well in school.” and Bed, Bath, and Beyond employee, a n d Ezra of employment on academic dip due to his job. success by Brigham Young Oyarce, college student Brigham Young University, and Trader Joe’s employee, University mentioned a in the same paper, brings statistic from the National expressed these concerns. up an interesting statistic Center for Education They both felt that it was from Dundes and Marx. hard to schedule around Statistics (NCES), which is They stated that 64 percent run by the U.S. Department two unmoveable events on (of students) reported of Education, that students top of any personal events that employment also working 15 hours weekly increased their level of have a significantly higher stress, something that Ezra GPA than both students Oyarce and Nick Coleman working 16 or more hours both reinforced. Nick would and students who don’t describe his weeks as hectic; work at all. This shows even though the work itself that working too much isn’t stressful, the added will have a noticeable burden of scheduling effect on a student’s his week around work, GPA, while it also extracurricular activities proves that working and home responsibilities can help streamline definitely stresses him out. a student’s growth. He also mentioned that it Ezra mentions affects his social life, denying struggling with a opportunities to meet up lack of study time and with friends. In “Working a desire to do well in in High School Doesn’t Pay school. Nick felt that his Off the Way It Used To,” grades were unaffected by Allison Schrager cites a working but only because study done by Charles Baum he is a senior, and has an and Christopher Ruhm: easy class load this year. He They looked at people who Chingun Erkhambayer believes that if he were in a were in high school in 3
the late 1970s and early ’80s and studied their earnings five to 11 years later, based on whether they worked their senior year. They repeated their analysis of high school graduates at the turn of the millennium. Baum and Ruhm found that, in the older group, those who worked in high school earned 8.3 percent more than those who didn’t. For the younger group, that premium dropped to 4.4 percent—and actually lowered the odds of finishing college and working at a betterpaying white-collar job. Both these of these young
Ezra Oyarce
mentions that he felt he had fewer opportunities to socialize with friends because he did not have a flexible schedule. However, as many people believe, there are many positives to working as a student. Nick mentioned to me that he believes working a job in high school carries a special significance because the current job market heavily values college degrees, and the best way to differentiate yourself from the rest of the freshout-college-millennialcrowd is through actual experience in a workspace. Schrager confirms the merit to this statement: Employers complain
“best way to differentiate yourself from the rest of the fresh-out-college-millennial-crowd is through actual exprience in a workspace.” men also contribute their stress to their workplaces. Rude customers were one thing they both mentioned that often soured their day. Nick specifically 4
millennials lack soft skills, like getting to work on time, dealing with a boss, teamwork, and a positive attitude. Complaining about disrespectful and lazy
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youngsters is as old as time, but there may be something behind their concerns: Millennials are entering the labor force with less job experience than earlier generations. This shows that those with work experience and “soft skills� learned in the workplace are in high demand as they are desireable qualities and in low in supply - only 33% of students in 2009 held summer jobs according to Charles Baum and Christopher Ruhm. An article on the benefits and risk of adolescent employment by Jeylan T. Mortimer says that Youth themselves think that employment helps them to develop a wide range of beneficial attributes, such as the capacity to take responsibility, develop time-management skills, overcome shyness with adults, and handle money. Furthermore, at least while they are in the work setting, employment makes them feel more like an adult. Employed teens have high rates of job satisfaction. While lots of students feel that having a job increases their stress, that is not true for all. Chingun Erkhambayer 6
mentioned that he personally finds his work a destresser. The simple routine takes his mind off the rest of his life and lets him focus for a few hours. Another big positive is humility. All three of them mentioned that they believed that they treat other service providers better. Chingun explained that his frustration with people who don’t tip has led him to tip more when he goes to other restaurants. In the past, Ezra never treated service workers
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poorly but never saw himself among them, and after being one of them, he has a higher sense of respect stemming from the empathy he developed from working a service job. Nick would also say that he feels like he has a newfound mutual respect for people who also work retail. With the variety of people that they all meet on a daily basis, they have learned how to deal with the pushy customers in a respectful and controlled manner.
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Work Cited
Coleman, Nick. Personal Interview. Feb. 24 2017 Effects of Employment on Student Academic Success .” BYU Employment. BYU, 2006. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. Erkhambayer, Chingun. Personal Interview. March. 13 2017 Oyarce, Ezra. Personal Interview. April. 19 2017
Mortimer, Jeylan T. “The Benefits and Risks of Adolescent Employment.” The Prevention Researcher, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC2936460/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017. Schrager, Allison. “Should Teens Work in High School? It Doesn’t Pay Off Like It Used To.”Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 15 Sept. 2014, www.bloomberg.com/news/arti cles/2014-09-15/should-teens-work-in-high-school-it-doesnt-pay-off-lik
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About Jacob Jacob Lopez is a junior at Freestyle Academy. He enjoys playing 8-ball pool, hanging out with friends, and barbecuing. Jacob is looking forward to senior year, new opportunities and enjoying summer.
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