Term, holidays, term, holidays, till we leave school, and then work, work, work till we die.
C. S. Lewis, British writer and theologian
Have you ever worked while you were in high school? I am prompted to ask this question after I met a bunch of high school kids who are working during this year-end holiday at a food court in Kuching. Most of them are boys; only one is a girl.
These kids are as tall and big as adults, but the way they behaved gave away their ages. One of the boys, for instance, stood at a corner and was constantly wiping his nose with a piece of cloth that looked like a napkin that he produced from his pocket. The words “school” and “teachers” cropped up often in their conversations.
I am no busybody but I could not help overhearing what they said, mostly in Mandarin, because they were standing less than two feet from my table at the food court.
That morning, I was having my breakfast alone and hence, had time to concentrate on things around me. If I had brought my mother along, I would have to tend to her and made sure she ate her food.
Once a journalist always a journalist, you say? Perhaps. I debated with myself for a while, asking whether I should satisfy my curiosity once and for all by asking the young people if they were working part-time.
In the end I directed my questions at the girl. She appeared more mature than the boys and was in fact directing them to clear and clean up the tables after the customers had left.
Surprisingly, I learnt later she is the youngest of them all. She is in Form One at a government school in the outskirts of the city.
The boys are Form 3 students at expensive private schools in the city. I also learnt they were related to the owners of the food court.
When I asked the girl, from whom I ordered my coffee, if working at the food court was hard, she replied, “Not if you know how to clear and clean the tables.”
I learnt that the boys and girl were all on morning shifts. Despite her age, the girl was confident, which augurs well for her future.
It took years for many of us, including yours truly, to develop self-confidence and be what we are today.
Generally, many people have the misconception that rich families spoil their kids. But this is not so, as proven by the private school young boys who didn’t mind working part-time at a food court.
When he was in high school, my niece’s boyfriend used to work during the holidays. His was a middle-class family and both of his parents worked.
He spent his wages on school books and stationery. In the process, he learnt to manage his money and time wisely and most of all he gained valuable work experience and made many new friends.
Do you know that some employers prefer to hire those with some form of work experience as they already have some knowledge of workplace ethics and company culture?
When studying overseas, many students take up part-time jobs to support themselves. According to an online website, some of the highest paying part-time jobs include waitressing, sales representatives, translators, content writing and blogging.
It is not easy to cope with a part-time job while studying, but many students manage to do it.
If your school work becomes too much to handle, you could ask your manager to reduce your working hours, suggests an online columnist. This, sometimes, is easier said than done. It can be done if you have an understanding manager or employer. Otherwise, you might have to forget about your part-time job altogether and concentrate fully on your studies.
Barrack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, had an interesting first job — scooping ice cream at Baskin Robins. He said the job, which was tougher than it looked, taught him many valuable lessons.
The valuable lessons, according to him, were responsibility, hard work and balancing a job with friends, family and school.
In big cities like Kuching where there is an abundance of food courts and companies, it is easier for high school, college and university students to look for part-time jobs during the school holidays.
Taking up part-time jobs will allow them to learn skills that will come in handy when they eventually enter the working world.
