Several Burke students hold a job, which may be for different reasons- such as saving some extra money for college. But, what some students may not know is that jobs can gain them lessons and experience for the future.

“Currently I am a sales associate at PacSun,” junior Madalyn Schoneman said.

Retail jobs, such as PacSun, involve interacting and helping with customer needs, selling the goods in the store, keeping the shop looking organized and a variation of other duties.

“My responsibilities really vary on the day,” Schoneman goes. “Some days we have to do shipment which means we bring out all the new stuff and set up all the new layouts.  Other days involve doing registers, refolding, restocking from the backstock and making the store look nice. On occasion we have to send photos of our store to corporate as a check in so we go refill tables as perfectly as possible.”

According to a poll taken on the Burke Journalism Instagram account regarding the jobs students have, some of the jobs Burke students hold are at restaurants, grocery stores, car washes, coffee shops, recreational centers and clothing stores.

“I am a cashier at HyVee,” senior Sam Bosker said. “I check out groceries, bag groceries, clean any places around the store that I need, run returns and stock.”

With so many options to choose from for high schoolers, there may be certain reasons why people draw towards some and lean away from others.

“I chose PacSun because I wanted to work somewhere I would actually enjoy being and I knew they were hiring,” Schoneman explained. “Lets be real though, the discount for sure.”

While dealing with several customers per shift, there is the occasional encounter with a not so friendly person.

“You don’t realize how much patience you have and need until you work with customers on a regular basis,” Bosker shared. “When I deal with customers, mostly the really rude ones, I turn my brain off. I don’t want to show too much emotion to make the situation worse and I just let them yell it out and move on.”

Even with the stress of jobs, there are positive benefits many students gain.

“I definitely think having job helps you figure out things you enjoy to do in a work place that you could grow into a future, but I think it is important to remember to have a good balance,” Schoneman said.