With all that international experience and education, you still can’t see things in any other context than what you personally know? I see no evidence of a broadened scope. I see an entitled brat who desperately wants to be assured that you are above your peers because of an acceptance to some college. Do you plan to ever work, or spend your whole life in academia? You can’t go to college forever.
You didn’t get paid a dime to go to summer school. Someone paid for you. A job means you’re earning money. For someone so well educated, it surprises me that your knowledge of the basics of life is so minimal.
As for most high school students not working, could you provide proof of that?
I am jumping in late but my HS child does not (and has not ever) had a paying job. Of her peer group 10 of the 12 do not and have not had paying jobs. They are not from rich families and at least 3 are considered working poor for our area (they receive free lunch) Many come from single parent families and are taking care of younger siblings in the summer and transportation is an issue in our area when parents are working.
In the past my D has taken care of her younger siblings in the summer, attended scout camp (volunteer counselor at both day camp (1 week) and resident camp (4 weeks)- working towards Gold Award), visited out of state Grandparents (1 week each side of the family- more as a daycare option for us to break up their time at home), and 1 week family vacation. This summer (junior rising to senior) she will be on her church youth pilgrimage/mission trip (had to fundraise and organize this-planning for 18 months - trip will last 10 days), will attend Girls State for the American Legion (1 week if chosen), will attend a Business Leadership Camp that is sponsored by the small businesses in our state and she earned a scholarship to attend where she will run the ins and outs of running a business, will return to volunteer for GS camp (3 weeks only since one week overlaps). She will also finish up her Gold Award for GS and begin her college apps. During the school year she has been focused on her ECs and school work.
I know there are others who work among all of this – for our family it didn’t work out as a viable option. Scouts, volunteer work, church, and school ECs take up a lot of time. These are things that she has done for years - not something for an application or resume. Both parents work full time and can not drive her after school to work. We live in the suburbs where there is no public transportation and school is not near business district. There are younger kids at home in scouts, sports, and music (each kid does 1 scout, 1 music, and 1 sport) - that we are all scheduling around. This summer we will both be working full time and can not drive her back and forth to a job - even if it would fit around her weeks away. The hassle and time involved in trying to make one more thing work does not seem worth it to our family. I am not knocking those that do make it work out and obviously from this thread there are many more superior kids than my average child who can make it all work.
I am not of the opinion of the OP that it is a waste of time or that working is a poor choice; however, I do not think that a lack of a part time, minimum wage HS job is going to be a detriment to those who do not work. I don’t think these kids are doomed in their job searches or are lacking any skills. For her activities, my D has shown massive amounts of responsibility, focus, hard work, and commitment. She just hasn’t been paid. Volunteering to be a resident camp counselor is a full day/full time job for weeks at a time - but no “employer” or $. She will learn a lot and have to be responsible, well spoken, respectful, organized, etc… for the business camp - and just the process of applying and then interviewing with the local selection committee was valuable. Ditto for the Girls State for the American Legion, and the work for her Gold Award for scouts. Church pilgrimage only happens once during HS - happens to be this year for her - and just no way to work a job around these activities. These things are/were all important to our family values.
That’s not remotely the same as the obligation to show up on time at work, to be accountable for one’s performance when it affects the firm’s bottom line, to work schedules which you do not always have a choice in deciding…such as several hours at a stretch without a break*, doing job related tasks which are unpleasant without the option of procrastinating or refusing, dealing with unpleasant/hostile customers without having the option of simply ignoring or leaving the situation, etc.
Not the same as school or moreso...a summer program like Harvard summer school where even taking the full 8 credits for the summer session mean one has plenty of time to take breaks in between classes, hang out with classmates, go around Cambridge/Boston, and yes...even hold a summer job.
Incidentally, I took a Harvard summer class while working a full-time job one summer and it was no big deal. If anything, the STEM class in question was paced such that it would never have been offered at my public magnet HS in that manner because the pacing/rigor would have been considered too low by most STEM teachers/HS classmates. Still am shocked at the large numbers of classmates in that class…including many Harvard Econ majors going to the dean to complain the Prof was “too hard” and they were worried about failing it.
@albert69 I have a job this summer. And I will have a part time research assistant job at college.
I think many of you are over-glorifying the average brainless summer job. It’s not this gritty spiritual experience for most, it’s free money to sit around on your cell phone. Most of my friends drove to their minimum wage jobs in Jeeps that cost $30,000. I doubt making $8 an hour taught them everything about the working class ethos. Give me a break.
It’s not the 70s where summer job savings could pay for a year of college. For most teens I know it’s a lot wiser to improve stats and get an edge academically to qualify for a better college and scholarships. My friends who were rejected from the colleges they wanted to attend all regret not doing summer programs.
My two boys attend/attended TJHSST, one of the top high schools in the country On top of academics, they had scouts, extracurriculars, internships, robotics, math competitions, etc. out the wazoo. Yet they still found time to work, either part time as pet sitters, summer daycamp counselors, volunteering, working in the local supermarket, etc. Just because you’re in a tough academic environment is no excuse to not work. Sounds like a cop out to me.
I volunteer a ton. And I tutor peers. I don’t consider those things a job. A summer job tethers you to town for all but maybe a week break (family vacation). I became a better writer, improved my test scores, traveled, met interesting peers … my friends hung out with the same 5 kids all summer, learned how to make sundaes and blew their earnings on cases of beer.
Since most of us have had summer jobs, and YOU HAVE NOT, your post is not credible. Not in the least. Basing your statements on the experience of a few allegedly unmotivated friends gives you not one iota of authority to speak on the subject.
Or one is a marginal student in such an environment and thus, is struggling to keep pace with one’s peers…whether it is passing or trying to be one of the top portion such as the top 25-33% of my public magnet graduating class who were accepted to Ivies and peer elite institutions such as Northwestern.
However, if TJSST’s student culture is like the one at Stuy’s when I attended, that’s not something one would want to openly advertise by using that as a justification for not holding a part-time/summer job.
The main vibe I’m getting from you is “look at me, aren’t I great. Tell me I’m better than my friends.” You simply refuse to grasp that not all teen jobs are “brainless.” If that’s how your friends’ jobs were, that says more about their attitudes and work qualifications than the jobs themselves. Just because they didn’t get into as highly ranked of colleges or had lower standardized test score or less broad experiences doesn’t make them lesser people.
On the contrary, it’s to point out that kids who are in rigorous academic environments can thrive academically and still have time to get a job for spending money.
OP, you might gain a shred of credibility if you said how you came up with the $10K for your beloved summer program (that did NOT teach you employment skills – you don’t even know what those are from what I can tell).
@albert69 I don’t think I’m that great. I’m merely challenging the still widely held belief that summer jobs are the greatest thing ever for teens—period, end of story. “Every teen needs a summer job” is echoed in every middle class town in America. It’s out of date, imo.
If I don’t have the authority to speak on summer jobs, then nobody in this thread has the authority to speak on academic programs unless they’ve done a 5-8 week summer stint.
@intparent Your tone is condescending and I’ve answered your question. You print the fundraising form from the college’s website and then you fundraise:
It’s unlikely there are “marginal students” at tj.
And OP, hyperbole does not help support an argument. No one here said a job is the best thing ever, period. But there are skills learned in the working world that are not learned in the academic tower.
@Sue22 I consider it clever to earn the funding for my summer programs. People believed in me. It would take like 5 summer jobs to pay for one lengthy summer program.
That kind of fundraising works when you come from privilege. If I were to allow her to my kid could raise $10,000 by hitting up relatives and friends whose causes we’ve supported. I’ve funded enough walkathons, car washes, and other similar fundraising efforts for other people that some of them would see giving my kid money for an academic program as a sort of trade, i.e., “you gave $200 when my kid walked 20 miles for breast cancer research so I’ll give your child $200 for her thing” or “I’ll give you $1,000 because you’re my grandchild and I love you and you asked.”
It does not work when the people nearest and dearest to you are struggling to pay the basic bills. The answer to most people’s money issues is not “You print the form and ask people.”
So essentially, what your ability to “fundraise” for this program shows is that your parents have money, no more, no less.
It sure takes a level of audacity to look down upon jobs that people use to fund college with that are saving every penny they can while others like you @futureNU16 can blow other people’s “fund raised” 10k in a summer…