By: Ashleigh Dwyer  <[email protected]>

As this school year begins, many students realize the overwhelming pressures of trying to have a “grown-up life” and continue with their education. Senior Lauren Rutherford is no exception. She held a job throughout the entire summer, but now that school has started, she said that she feels overly pressured with the work hours she’s given and the amount of work for school that she has to complete.

“I thought that I would be able to manage everything, school and having a job, but now I’m starting to realize that having a job and doing homework or anything after school is a lot harder than I thought it would be,” Rutherford said.

Rutherford works at the Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation Monon Center, and she said that she really enjoys working there; she just wishes the hours were easier to work into her school schedule.

“The Monon Center isn’t open really late at night, so I usually have to work right after school until it closes, and then by the time I go home to do homework, I’m exhausted,” Rutherford said.

Michael Klitzing, who is the Monon Center’s assistant director, said that many of the employees at the center end up quitting once they return to school. He said that the Monon Center expected some employees to quit, but not quite as many who actually did.

“Many students said that the hours just didn’t work for their school schedule or that their parents didn’t really want them to have a job during the school year because they wanted to make sure they could focus more on their work, which I totally understand,” Klitzing said.

However, Klitzing also said that managing the number of people who quit and trying to find replacements was harder than he or anyone else expected it to be.

“A lot of college students were able to step in and help work for just a little bit before having to return back to school, but now we are trying to count on older graduates or students that are able to manage both school and work to fill in for the extra work,” Klitzing said.

Klitzing also said that the good part about the school year is that the kids who would come to the pool or use many other features at the center are also back in school. This means that the center isn’t nearly as busy right now as it was during the summer.

The Monon Center isn’t the only place that students worked at during the summer. Another student, senior Peter Haigh, worked for Applebee’s throughout the entire summer, but now that school has started, he decided to quit his job there.

“My parents didn’t really want me to work during the school year, and I really didn’t want to either because within the first week of school, I already had so much homework and activities that I was suppose to be involved in,” Haigh said.

Rutherford said that she might soon be taking the path that Haigh took and quit her job. She said that she’s just so afraid of how much work she’s going to be getting soon and how it will affect her last year at high school.

Both Haigh and Rutherford said that not only are they tired of trying
to manage a job and school, they are also trying to concentrate on applying for college and getting the best grades they can before they have to make a decision that will affect the rest of their lives.

“I just don’t want to make any mistakes this year because honestly I have the rest of my life to work. I know I’m responsible, so I don’t need a job to develop those skills, but if I slack off in school I might not ever get the opportunity to prove that,” Haigh said.

Junior Tyler Evancic works as a server at the Ritz Charles. Evancic plays on this school’s football team, so with working, football practice and homework, he’s had a really hard time having a social life.

“I feel like all I do is go to practice, work on the weekends and do homework. The worse part is that when school gets out for fall break, I’m picking up shifts to work,” Evancic said.

Klitzing said that he realizes that students have to focus on school and that schoolwork has to come first. According to him, even though many of his employees have to quit because of school, he understands why students have to concentrate on their learning.

Although the Monon Center may be understanding about homework, Evancic said the Ritz Charles isn’t sympathetic at all. According to him, his hours are usually long and late because he works at a catering facility.

“Fall break, especially the (first) Friday, is going to be a perfect time for couple to have parties of some sort, so of course that’s where I’m going to be stuck,” Evancic said.    

Rutherford said, “I like working at the Monon Center and by working there and having a job, you do feel like you’re a part of the ‘real world’ more than you do at school, but doing well in school and making sure I can devote as much time as possible to my grades is what will make me able to be any part of the ‘real world’ that I want to be when I’m done with school.”