In these past few years, Battle students have begun to start their first jobs, exposing them to real world experiences of maintaining a steady job and being introduced to new people. 

Obtaining, having, and maintaining a job can be really difficult, especially for the first time with no prior experience. It can be somewhat of a gamble, with not knowing what your coworkers, managers, or even the job itself will be like. Some people get lucky, though, and enjoy their first job and stick with it, such as senior Savannah Bridgeford, who has worked at Bur Oak brewery since last summer, “It’s been really cool learning how to interact with people and customers and learning how to serve and about more responsibilities,” she said, “cause now I do things like inventory and more like admin kinda stuff, and that’s a really fun and cool experience that I think will apply to a lot of things.” 

Committing to a job and sticking with it can be rewarding in the way that the longer you work there, the more experience you get, which can help when applying for jobs in the future. Although some people aren’t so lucky, and get stuck with a job that they don’t quite vibe with. However, these jobs can still provide useful life lessons. Senior Preston Hilderbrand can attest to that, “I learned that I don’t get along with everyone, and not everyone gets along with me.” 

With that being said, finding a job you like is the ideal scenario. While jobs you don’t like can still teach you things, finding one you enjoy will make life better for you and the people around you. 

Another thing, probably the most important thing that jobs teach us, is responsibility. Responsibility is a skill that is crucial to our development as functioning adults. It is something that we will use no matter where we end up in life. It is especially important if you’re dealing with young kids, which is nearly inescapable, because they’re everywhere. Freshman Viv Freeman, who works at Flipz Gymnastics teaching young toddlers the skills, understands this firsthand. “I’ve learned about the amount of responsibility and patience it takes to teach toddlers gymnastics,” she said.