High school is the last stop before becoming an adult. Whether you choose to go to college or straight into the workforce, you’ve got to be financially prepared. Most parents encourage their students to earn money to prepare for the future, but often times it’s hard to even find a job as a teen. The application process is a long journey, and is most often accompanied by rejection, a lot of times due to age. In town, there are few places that hire at fourteen and fifteen, which are the beginning years of high school.

As everyone knows, high school can be quite stressful, with homework and preparation for college. Students are also encouraged to participate in extracurriculars, which take up a lot of time and money. But, gaining work experience in high school is also recommended. As a working student, it is hard for me to balance late nights and homework, while also maintaining a positive mental health. A lot of other students said the same thing. “Balancing a job and school is pretty hard because you’ve got to find the right times that work. School is more important than work for me,” said Jensen Mierkowicz , junior.

Working enough for a substantial paycheck means working quite a few hours, on top of the daily seven hours of school. Not only does this limit time to complete assignments and keep up grades, but also time for family and friends. While it is important to be financially stable, students should always have access to others, who could possibly be experiencing the same stress. At the end of the day, staying happy and healthy is the most important thing, but few students actually feel that way, due to unnecessary pressure. “The amount of days I work sometimes gets out of control. It makes it hard to complete my school assignments,” said Breckyn Martens, junior.