If you are like me, a broke college student, you most certainly have taken advantage of the lack of classes during the summer to get a Summer job. Having a summer job is a great way to make money, rebuild savings, get out of the house and still maintain a reasonable amount of maturity and responsibility while at home (or not). I myself am managing a pool this summer and worked two jobs last summer. It can be a great way to keep your mind busy.
While having a job is great, it's not all great; here's a list of the best and worst things about having a summer job.
1. Having to deal with other people.
This speaks for itself. Most of the time, I love people and like to see the best in them. But other times, it's unfortunate that workplace violence is frowned upon. Co-workers, clients, customers and all forms of people that you are forced to encounter on a daily basis can be extremely frustrating and can make you regret applying to Kohls as a cashier.
2. While Summer is supposed to be a time to rest and recharge, a job can halt this entirely.
Even if you are sitting as a lifeguard or a pool attendant for 4 to 5 hours at a time, it is utterly draining. If it is hot out, this is made even worse and it can make you realize how exhausted you are by the time you sit down in the car.
3. If you work at a job or company for more than one Summer, there is a good chance that you can ask for a raise.
Anyone who job hunts and especially is a college student knows how hard it is to get paid more than minimum wage starting anywhere. But if you are lucky enough to continue working at a company for a few consecutive Summers, then they may be happy to pay you a bit more.
4. Depending on if you have an inside job or an outside job, you can miss the sun or you can miss the air conditioning.
Sometimes you will get up with the sun and then see the tail-end of the sun by the time you get out of work. I am fortunate enough to have an outside job that is broken up into 4 and 5-hour shifts so I get a little bit of sun and the ability to rest as well. But when you have a constant inside job, it can be hard to feel like it's Summer.
5. You can rebuild your savings and also have some extra spending money.
The unfortunate truth is that college kids rarely get money for presents because hey, we are adults now. The sad irony of this is that we need it more than our 8-year-old sibling who will buy toys with it. This being the way things are, we must rely on ourselves for spending money and also our ability to rebuild our savings so that we are able to live during the school year. Here is where a summer job (or three), comes in handy.
6. You can get out of the house and save yourself from another 6-hour binge on Netflix.
At this point in the Summer, you have likely been watching more Netflix than you thought possible, while also scrolling through social media at a rate more frequent than the number of times the episode changes. A job helps to keep you from going brain dead and also forces you to move your legs once every hour.
All in all, having a summer job is mostly a good thing, but don't get me wrong, there can be negative things as well that some days, make you want to go back home and sleep the Summer away.
