With the school year winding down, and just one month left, students are beginning to make plans for their summers. The most popular use of the summer among Chamblee students seems to be working a job. In a survey of twenty-seven sophomores, juniors, and seniors, twenty said they would be working this summer, while five said they might, and only two said they would not. And while students’ prospective jobs range from internships to retail to the service industry, the common denominator remains that more students than not will be pursuing pay and experience this summer.
One of these students is Chamblee sophomore Millie Gotsch, who plans to work as a lifeguard for their second summer in a row.
“I work at Dynamo Lifeguarding Company, and in the summer I usually work at outdoor pools,” they said. “I started last summer. I got certified and I started working in July. Before that, I had never worked.”
For Gotsch, the decision to work largely comes down to filling the vast hours of the summer.
“I think I just want to stay busy, I want to have something to do, so I’m planning on just loading myself up with work,” they said. “And at some of the outdoor pools, the little kids can be really funny. It can be entertaining.”
Jackson King, a senior at Chamblee, will also be working for Dynamo this summer.
“I will be an assistant head guard at the Briarwood pool and probably working at another pool such as Lynwood or Murphy Candler,” he said. “I’ve already signed my contract, so I’m good to go.”
Lifeguarding won’t be King’s only job, though. He will also be working at Buckhaven Veterinary Clinic. King says this job choice comes down to experience.
“When I go to college, I want to become a vet myself,” he said. “And to do that, you need hours in a vet clinic. Auburn [requires] five hundred hours in order to go on that track. So a lot of hours, a lot of experience. Also I really just love small animals like dogs and cats, so it’s really nice to be there when I can.”
Beyond just working for experience, King is putting his earnings into savings.
“I’m saving up money just to have some spending money in college,” he said. “So it’s all going into a savings account right now. And hopefully I can work enough to […] get a car.”
Many Chamblee students will be working this summer. But some already have jobs, and simply plan to take advantage of the summer to work more hours, like Junior Chase Pellettieri.
“I have been working for about seven months and I plan to work this summer at the Chamblee ACE hardware store just across the street from the high school, and yeah, I plan to increase my hours during the summer,” he said. “I started off as a cashier, but […] I do a good amount of other stuff, like fill propane tanks, cut keys, stuff like that.”
Pellettieri said that his job is largely due to the pandemic.
“I got the motivation to get the job because, especially with COVID-19 happening, I was sitting around a good bit and just not being as productive as I would have liked,” he said. “And I thought, […] I may as well be getting a job.”
And while Pellettieri doesn’t have anything in particular he’s saving for, he says it’s nice to have some spending money.
“I haven’t been making a crazy amount of money, but it’s always nice to have a job as a teenager,” he said. “And, I have a car now, so I’ve just been using my job to pay for gas and going to eat at restaurants and stuff like that.”
Pellettieri also said he’s been using some of his earnings to invest.
“I have actually been investing a little in stocks and so I put a good amount of what I make or whatever I don’t spend into that,” he said. “I have […] a custodial account. […] I don’t know everything about [investing], it was more of just going into it as a learning experience. I know everyone invests at some point in their life and I thought, ‘well, it couldn’t hurt to get started now.’ And I’ve learned a good amount about the market, but I know I have way more to learn, so I’m not doing too much trading […], but I’m just kind of getting a feel for the market and how it works, and the ups and downs and stuff like that.”
On top of these bonuses, Pellettieri says he’s grateful for the experience.
“The reason I’m very fortunate that I’ve found a job is because of the experience,” he said. “I mean, you are just learning so much stuff everyday, […] from plumbing to electrical to what seasonings to use on chicken and burgers, just literally everything.”
Ultimately, every student pursues a job for a slightly different reason. And whether they’re just looking to fill their day or pursuing valuable experience, everyone gets something out of it.