The Summer I Turned Employed

 Sara Bradeich

These past few summers, my parents have been pushing me to get a job. They tell me that I need to find something to fill up my time — that I can’t just lie around all summer like a typical plot in a miscellaneous Disney Channel episode from the 2010s. So, I’ve spent countless hours volunteering with animals and kids. Never had I ever taken the plunge into getting a real, paying job. Until this summer. It’s no longer Disney Channel; it’s more like Amazon Prime Originals. It’s the summer I turned employed. 

This summer, I finally started applying for jobs and landed a role in the front-of-house staff at my local frozen yogurt spot. I do have to admit there was some nepotism involved, and no LinkedIn accounts were necessary. When my sister was in high school, she had the same job, so I can guess that my interview was heavily influenced by their established relationship with her. Shoutout to you, sis!

 I was very nervous before the interview, so I made my dad ask me questions to help me prepare. When I finally got there, I felt a little more confident — having a vague idea of what my answers could be to the potential questions. However, when I finally sat down with the interviewer, she asked me to tell her a little bit about myself. I gave a short answer that I now realize was probably not my best work. But, I was asked no further questions and got hired on the spot, so I must have done something right! 

Now, this is not a testament to my amazing interview skills, but it speaks more to how my boss operates. She very much works off vibes and energy rather than actual skill or work ethic. This does show sometimes in her choice of employees, as the person they hired after me only maintained the job for around two weeks.

I, however, have been holding strong for almost two months and LET me tell you: now that senior year has begun, I feel like I have no time for anything other than work or school. It’s not like I can truly complain; I only have three to four shifts a week. But going from doing nothing all day to actually having human responsibilities is exhausting. Especially since those responsibilities include talking to people. For that, I’ve developed a basic script for how conversations usually go. Though, when a customer goes off script, you will unfortunately catch me stumbling over my every word. Especially when I'm working a night shift after a long day of school and start interactions by asking customers if they want their receipts.

In the end, though, I am having a lot of fun making connections with my regular customers and co-workers (and, of course, earning money isn’t too bad either)!