No, this won't be an article on how to perfect Fifth Harmonies dance moves, an analysis of the way Rihanna worked the stage at the VMA's, or a how-to-guide on how to work the "twerk"; Instead I will be touching upon what it is like to work perpetually in your younger years, and how that can have both negative and positive effects on your future, growth as a person, and work ethic in and out of the work place.

First let me talk about why I've always worked so much. My family never forced me to pay my own way growing up, or drilled it into me that that was the way it was supposed to be -- in fact, before I started working my parents often would give me money just for leisure activities like movies, going to the mall on Friday nights back in the unmentionable years (even though all we did was walk around and terrorize the toy section of Walmart) or just to go get snacks at the local corner store. Over the years money did become more scarce for us, though. Finances were tougher for almost everyone in the middle class as time crept forward, but also because my father's battle with alcoholism and Parkinson's disease became more daunting, medical expenses rose and half of the income (given he was not in the condition to work) disappeared. At a young age I couldn't do much to help contribute to the financial side of things in the family, besides being frugal with the money I did have, and trying not to ask for money as often. I didn't want to put my house hold in a bind, I wanted to work as soon as I could to prevent making matters worse by paying for my own phone and any other expenses (within reason) that I added to the equation for my parents. So, I took it upon myself to start doing some things to establish some ethos in my work history, early on. Younger than most pre-teens, I started by volunteering at various non-profit organizations, charities, and doing community service. Not only for the causes I chose to support was this beneficial, but for gaining work experience and developing credibility for myself when I applied for a paying job. This was my thinking at twelve, I might add.

Starting off with volunteer work really helped to give me a great appreciation for the value of a dollar. That's probably because the reward at an actual job for putting work in was more than the effect you had on the community you offer your services, or a number of hours to log on an application; this time the work you did brings home a paycheck! Although I had done some chores around the house and was given money occasionally for that, it still made me feel guilty -- I wanted to be employed, and not getting handouts for the things I should have been doing already as a member of the house. Eventually I was able to land a job in the rug factory outlet store at the company my mother works for, Colonial Mills of Rhode Island. You are probably thinking, "Rugs... how exciting..." and it was, to be honest, very exciting for 14 going on 15 year-old Alec. This was only one day a week, but still enough for a highest honors student always swimming in homework to be completely busy, now even on Saturday, my one day for fun and relaxation. No complaints here though, I was in it for the cash. Working at the rug store I learned how to interact with customers, process standard/custom orders, and how to use product knowledge to influence a customer's purchase. I only missed out on a few trips to the movies with some friends, and a couple dances at school that people would be bound to be talking about come Monday. I've worked at Colonial Mills since, and plan to return when I'm not away at school. Having money of my own gave me a taste of independence and drive to further my work abilities. That brought me to my second job.

The next spring after I began working for Colonial Mills I started scooping ice cream for the Somerset Creamery right near my house in Swansea. It is strange to think that was four years ago, and that since then I've learned how to scoop like a professional, deliver efficient customer service, and perfect basic stocking and register operations. When the season of the sun came to a close and people hide inside instead of coming out for some frozen treats, I started working at the middle school safe haven during the holiday season, Aéropostale. At this point I had been working around 20-25 hours a week with both jobs, but didn't ever have Aéropostale and the creamery overlap. I started to manage my earnings a bit better after a year of consistent working. I'm relieved I figured out how to make the most of my money by clipping coupons, completing online rebates, and selling clothes I hadn't been wearing anymore prior to moving away for school. Working two different jobs was draining at first for me, but I still had time to see the few friends that truly made the effort to work around my schedule and school related duties. That was one perk, it helped me determine who my dearest friends were. Towards the end of the next school year, since I had mastered balancing out the two jobs while in school life style I decided that I needed another job, especially with summer approaching.The thought of all that extra free time had me feeling really nervous. I guess working from a young age drilled into my head that I always had to make an effective use of my time, and that if i didn't I was lazy. On to job number three.

Thirdly came working for Friendly's, and it was treacherous. When I was first on boarded at my local Friendly's ice cream and restaurant I was excited to know I would be making 50 cents more than minimum wage per hour! Supposedly two years working for the creamery meant I deserved it, and I wasn't opposed -- until I learned I was not going to be trained, and that I would basically be running the ice cream portion of the establishment on my own after my first shift. Without the proper knowledge on their systems or what the flashing red lights on the computer's meant, my ability to make an aesthetically pleasing ice cream sundae was nearly useless. The biggest flaw with the establishment was not that they scheduled me the day before for my shifts (even though I did not have my own car at the time so planning for rides was adorable), the unsanitary working conditions, or lack of training -- it was the management. Rude is what they were, and probably still are. I will admit though, the horrors of working at Friendly's for 4 months (Before I had no choice but to leave and find something different.) taught me a great deal. Friendly's showed me how to work around the kinks of working 3 jobs while in school, about why having accountability is important, how respecting your boss makes working for them easier, and radical acceptance. We all have to have that one negative, horribly run, dread going to work every day, shit show job at some point in our adolescence; I have Friendly's to thank for checking that off my list of things I never intend to do again.

Now that I have established a bit of a work experience, had many references under my belt, and became comfortable working anywhere from 25-35 hours a week, I started to get a little more particular about the type of brands I affiliate myself with. For example, one year later I applied to Bath and Body Works for the holiday season, like I had for Aéropostale in past years. I was recruited as a member of their core staff after I had the opportunity to show them promising salesmanship. Learning more about the ethics involved in the corporation I could only tolerate the brand for two months after the holiday season before I gave them my two weeks notice.

Given that Limited Brands (the parent company owning Bath and Body Works, Victoria's Secret, and other brands too.) refers to their associates and customers as "she" or "her" on even their most updated training videos, campaigns, and store merchandise, it was not a comfortable place for any male to work or shop. Additionally there were many issues with the distribution of hours, favoritism, unprofessional behavior in the store, and a hush hush vibe when it came to communicating our sales goals/accomplishments. When you start working for more than just a year or so you start to get a little more aware of things like this in your employers, and get a little more picky. I guess that tends to happen when the immediate high of actually having a job has sort of lost its magic. Shortly after waving bye to Bath and Body Works minus the occasional cover or floor set that I worked, I began at the first job that totally had me engrossed, LUSH cosmetics.

Everything about LUSH as a brand was entirely fascinating, up and coming, inclusive, and transparent, That is what I loved the most at first, aside from the products of course. I learned such a great deal about important topics I dabbled into a little and was interested in, but never pursued or researched before. LUSH focuses so heavily on developing their employees to the best of their ability, and in general this made me grow outside of the shop as well. You know you have found a good fit for a job when you feel respected by your fellow employees, that your addition to the team is valued, and that you do not leave work feeling like you don't ever want to have to go back. So this job I was intending to keep. At this time in my life I had just been wrapping up junior year of high school and would be attending Johnson and Wales University through the Early Enrollment Program to earn my high school diploma and complete my freshman year of college at once. All while working anywhere from 45-60 hours a week depending on the hours I was given at all three jobs: LUSH, Somerset Creamery, and Colonial Mills. I even became a secret shopper on the side, and worked a few private parties as a Disney prince entertaining children for their birthdays or other events, helped with floor sets and floor coverage at Bath and Body works once or twice a month, and tried to volunteer when I wasn't gasping for air. It was exhausting to say the least, but I still managed to maintain elite academic standing. I'm thankful that I conditioned myself to always carry more than I could handle and try so many different things for the widest range of experience, because eventually I could just barely handle it, and it made me stronger over all.

One word of advice I have for anyone who is like me and is never satisfied is to give yourself a break, acknowledge your accomplishments and take pride in them. Don't force yourself to grow up quicker than you have to, or you'll find yourself having a mid-life crisis by the time you reach your early twenties. Well I suppose that's more of a quarter life crisis, which means you'll probably hit at least three more going through life like this. It's silly really, like throwing out a shirt you haven't worn yet, buying a new shirt, and then throwing that new shirt out so you can buy a new new shirt that you won't wear either. This is something I am still working on for myself, but I did actually take a "stay home vacation" before moving into Salem State University. By vacation I mean working only 20-25 hours for a week and a half during summer break, it was pretty relaxing for me, at first. I got a chance to catch up on some much needed rest, pack for school, work on some car things, and just breathe. That's the problem with working perpetually from the time you reach 15, you miss out on the chance to do fun things with people your age because whenever you are not at work you are at school, or doing homework for school -- and to me, that is breathing. After 4 days of having half or all the day to myself to do whatever I found myself overwhelmed, and that breathing was more like suffocating. Like working so much, putting an extreme amount of pressure on myself from school, and etc. was drowning me and I managed to learn to breathe underwater, but now my gills were functional only when submerged in the waters of my own chaotic busyness. Breathing oxygen like a normal young adult just didn't work the same for me. I had nothing to do, and the free time was genuinely horrifying for me. It's not like I had many friends to spend time with, I'd always been too busy on the clock to make plans and follow through with them.

Now that I'm at school I'm looking for things to keep me busy besides taking selfies in my dorm room, re-reading the one chapter I've been assigned for homework, and decorating the white wall that is quickly becoming overcrowded with collages and posters. I'm learning to take a breath of all the things that life has to offer. Yes it is good to work and make some extra money, but realistically even two jobs can become a little much for a dedicated student. You have your entire rest of your life to work full time, why start now? These are supposed to be the best years of our lives. Inhale all the memories and experiences of your fading youth. Take some time off, you deserve it. Exhale. Relax. If you spend your whole life clocked in, you'll never get a chance to explore what the world has in store for you when you're clocked out. Go ahead, breathe.