Students Share the Highs and Lows of Working

By Christopher Loupeda
Staff Writer | The Pacific Times

Finding and keeping a job as a student in high school can be a difficult task.

NP3 High requires all students looking for jobs to request a work permit from their assigned counselor. The student must provide personal information and signatures from their guardian and a manager at their job. Once this is signed and a student is hired they will receive a work permit from the school.

Juniors Katelynn Tran, Jasmin Perez, and Niko Korvink all had to go through this process to become employed.

Although not at the same location, both Perez and Tran work at Round Table Pizza restaurants.

Perez has been working for eight months at the Round Table on Arena Boulevard in Natomas. She landed her job at Round Table by researching jobs, she also mentioned her, “older sister also used to work for the company and called her old boss and put in a good word.”

Tran experienced a challenging few months trying to get employed.

“I sent in an application almost everywhere and still didn’t get hired,” she said.

Round Table finally asked her to come in for a meeting.

“I didn’t even have an actual interview, I was literally hired on the spot,” said Tran, who has been working at the Natomas Boulevard location for three months now.

Korvink worked at Mulvaney’s B&L, in downtown Sacramento, for six months. Like Perez, Korvink used family connections. He said he got his job, “through my grandfather and an interview.”

While getting a job is a challenge, balancing it with school can also be difficult. That’s one of the reasons Korvink quit his job in February 2021.

“It was hard, as I spent the entire week getting homework and classwork done, Friday and Saturday were my workdays, and then I took Sundays off,” said Korvink, who quit to focus on school.

Perez said the flexibility of her schedule has allowed her to balance school and work.

“I also know my limits and always have a schedule to balance school work with my work schedule,” she said.

Tran pointed out her more relaxed class schedule and her time management skills allow her to stay on top of schoolwork.

“Sometimes balancing school with work is difficult because I get a different schedule every week and I usually come home tired,” added Tran. “If I know my schedule for the week, it’ll be pretty easy to stay on top of it.”

Both Perez and Tran mentioned the opportunities of making new friends as a positive of working part-time jobs.

“I’ve made many friends,” said Perez.

Added Tran, “My favorite part of the job is my coworkers, they all go to different schools like Inderkum and PFAA so I get to talk to new people who don’t go to my school.”

Korvink said tips were his favorite part of working.

“Tips were really good, especially at Christmas, and they gave me food every night, which is like a whole $40 meal,” he said

Perez, Tran, and Korvink said there are also some negatives of working.

“It’s fun when you get along with your co-workers, but it can be stressful at times especially when people don’t follow CDC guidelines about masks,” said Perez.

Added Perez, “ Cleaning after others or cleaning the bathrooms is always something I dread. I tend to be a neat freak and don’t understand how people can be so messy.”

Tran explained that rude customers are the main downside of her job.

“Some customers will be extremely rude to me for no reason,” she said. “I’m never sure what’s going on with them but I don’t understand why people are mean to minimum wage workers, especially when all of us are mostly 16-17 year olds.”

Korvink struggled with work hours and said that was the hardest part of working at Mulvaney’s.

“Hours were really bad,” he explained.”I would leave to go to work at 4 p.m. and wouldn’t get to bed until 2 to 3 a.m.”

All three students had takeaways from their work experiences.

“Hard work pays off,” said Perez, “Whether it being a small reward like a tip or a promotion to supervisor. I’ve worked very hard in my current position and it’s paid off as I’ll soon be a supervisor this November.”

Added Tran, “You’re gonna probably work for the rest of your life so enjoy your childhood and youth.”

Korvink said having a job is, “Hard work.”

“I worked overtime on a consistent basis and always did my best to ensure the best for the restaurant, even at the sacrifice of my mental health,” said Korvink

Perez, Tran, and Korvink all had tips for getting jobs.

“Make sure you are willing to do the work you sign up for,” recommended Perez. “Always take the high road and be the bigger person, it will show you are professional.”

Tran suggested calling several places to ask if they’re hiring and their age requirement.

“Ask a friend or family if they have a boss that’s hiring,” she added.

Korvink added, “Know what job you’re getting, know the routine and know what is expected of you at that job.”