For many of our students, just school work is not enough. Many try sports or other after-school activities. Some decide that is not necessarily the direction they want to go, and money is always a motivating factor, so getting a job is the way to go. Some students take up a part-time job to make money, save for college, buy their first car, or for various reasons. I recently started part-time at Five Guys to make some spare cash and begin saving for a car. However, the balance between work and school is hard to keep satisfied and not overwork yourself. I have asked a few of my fellow students that work for their opinion if they believe the struggle to balance work and school is worthwhile, and here are their stories.

First is a co-worker of mine, Alex Luebke, currently a senior at Walton High School. We both have been working at Five Guys East Cobb for several months.

Q: How long have you been working with Five Guys?

A: Since day 1, since then I work every week, pretty much the same days every week. We opened on October 19, 2020.

Q:About how many hours a week do you work?

A: The goal is about 20 to 25 hours a week, but as long as I have enough to pay for my car, it works with me.

Q:Besides the pay, what inspired you to get a job, or why do you work?

A: My Mustang, I drive a 2018 Mustang that I have to pay the monthly payment for, and also to upgrade then thing, soon I plan to put new rims and tires on it, a month ago I had new exhaust put on it. The payment isn’t that high, but without the job, I couldn’t pay it.

Q:Do you like your co-workers?

A: The majority of them, yes. Working with you, Grant, and Latoya are the easiest to work with. Some are hard to work with, but overall I get along with them.

Q:What is your favorite position you work at Five Guys?

A: Literally anything that is not fries, I always work the fry station, so other positions are always nice, but I don’t hate fries, it just gets really tiring very quickly.

Q:How much longer do you believe you will work with Five Guys, will you continue in College, get a new job, or stop working altogether?

A: I plan to keep at it for a year, then I’m done here, where next? Don’t know, I may just not work for a while, if I need work I can just work at like a mechanic shop or something.

I have been working with Alex since my first day on November 9, 2020. I believe he is one of our better workers at our store, and I enjoy working with him.

Next is my friend Jack Alfi who is a fellow Junior at Walker.

Q: Where do you work?

A: I work seasonally at Pike’s Family Nurseries.

Q: How long have you been working there?

A: Just about 6 months until the seasonal holiday workers were no longer needed at the store.

Q:Why did you work, for the pay or for another reason?

A:I just wanted the ability to make money and pay for my own things, its also important to learn that aspect of responsibility for the future, and go through that process while your parents are still living with you.

Q: Do you like working with your co-workers?

A:Yes, my coworkers have all been good people and I have personally never had a bad experience with any of them.

Q:How long do you plan to work there or do you plan to get another job in college, or not work at all?

A:I may work through the rest of the school year and look for another job in summer. When it comes to college I am not quite sure yet, it depends on how I feel when I get there.

Q: Any interesting things that have happened while you worked?

A: I got to sometimes load a 15 foot Christmas tree into a small pickup truck.

Lastly is another Junior at Walker, Cooper Cranfill.

Q:Where do you work?

A: I work at a resort pool in the summer as a lifeguard, the resort is known as Kiawah Island.

Q: How long have you been there?

A: I’ve been working at Kiawah for 4 years.

Q: Roughly how many hours a week do you work? 

A: During the summer I like to work overtime since the pay increase is pretty nice, so I’ll work 50-60 hours a week

Q: Besides the pay, why do you work or what inspired you to get a job when you did?

A: My dad was a lifeguard, the job was local, it had good benefits and discounts on resort goods and services

Q: Do you like your co-workers or at least tolerate them? 

A: They’re fun for the most part, though there’s a few that can get annoying

Q: How long do you plan to work there or do you plan to get another job in college, or not work at all?

A: I plan to work there until senior year, but I plan to go to a college in Daytona Florida (Embry riddle) so I’ll need to change locations but I do still plan to be a lifeguard

Q:Any interesting things about the job you would be cool with sharing.

A: Nothing too interesting happens where I work, but we do have a slide that propels you fast enough to glide across the water, so we have competitions between the patrons and the lifeguards on slow days to see who can go farther.

As we can see, students do enjoy working and have various reasons to work. I work to save for one of my dream cars and also to pay for gas and food.  While in high school, work may be an added complication to life. However, students enjoy working and can find ways to balance work hours and school hours.