As the weather warms up and school cools down, students are working summer jobs to gain experience and pocket money for the future.
While students’ jobs range anywhere from camp counseling to grocery bagging, junior Lucia Di Bartolo is taking the retail route, and will be working at Dreyers Ice Cream on College Avenue in Berkeley.
“I’m working to keep myself busy and to earn some money,” Di Bartolo said.
Di Bartolo said that she intends to work approximately five hours a day throughout the summer with the exception for when she is out of town.
“With my earnings I plan to make it rain but then pick it all up and save it for the future,” Di Bartolo said.
Having worked for almost a year, Di Bartolo knows the perks of working at an ice cream store.
“I get all the free ice cream I want so I usually tend to eat six or seven ice cream cones a day,” Di Bartolo said.
While Di Bartolo will see floods of customers thirsting for cool ice cream in the heat of the summer, senior Matt Price will be working at a summer camp for kids at Head Royce High School in the Oakland Hills.
“I plan to save the money so I have something to fall back on when I don’t want to eat at Cal Poly’s cafeteria,” Price said.
At his job, Price will be a TA for summer school in the morning and for enrichment programs in the afternoon. He will also play games with the kids during recess and other times.
“I think it will be a good way to get some job experience and it’ll be a lot of fun playing with the little kiddies,” Price said.
Price learned about the summer program job opportunity from his aunt who is a teacher at Head Royce.
“The application process was kind of similar to a college application,” Price said. “There were a bunch of questions I had to answer online on their website and then I had to come in for an interview where each interviewee had to teach the group a game and then play the game. It was a really fun and relaxed atmosphere, especially for an                         interview.”
However, not all students can take up summer jobs, especially underclassman.
Sophomore Teddy Staley plans to get his first job during the summer after his junior year because he will not have the time this summer.
“Getting a job is a big commitment that takes away a lot of your time,” Staley said. “If you have a blank schedule and need money for gas, food, etc. then you are lined up for an appropriate time to get a summer job.”
While this may be the case for those like Staley, students with jobs agree that they serve as preparation for one’s future.
While Di Bartolo is happy about earning money, it is not the only reason she works. She thinks that having job experience is important and will help her in the future.