Working Students of Morro Bay High School
Within the halls of MBHS, no two students are the same. However, many share one thing in common: being a working student. Holding the position of a part time employee while also dedicating mass amounts of time and energy to academics and extracurriculars is no small feat.
Students having jobs is a large part of American culture and it has been for quite some time. This long lasting history of students who hold working positions can be seen throughout numerous pieces of media. Whether these are more outrageous jobs such as a CIA agent, as is the case in Agent Cody Banks, or the more grounded position of a babysitter in John Carpenter’s Halloween.
The latter job leads us into our first student, senior Zahira Segler. Along with being ASB Co-President and a hardworking student, Segler also finds time to help the community out as a babysitter. Not only do Segler’s services provide mass amounts of aid to the families within her community, she also is able to build relationships with those she safeguards. “I see them at football games and I see them around the community and at events I run. It’s so good to bond with them… I love building a community that everybody feels welcome in."
(Source: Clipart-Library.com)
Students also have jobs that help their own family as well. This is the exact case with senior Reno Hallmeyer. Hallmeyer serves up countless coffees as a barista for his ancestral business Cayucos Coffee. Hallmeyer believes that along with preparing him with important life skills for the future, his job is also, “...broadening my [Hallmeyer] social horizons.”
Though these jobs appear to be fairly different on paper, the connection that is created between these two working students can be easily seen. Both Segler and Hallmeyer feel that they gain the skill of crafting strong connections within their communities. This goes to show that no matter what service is done for a community, the payment to the working student extends much farther than that of a monetary value.
When both of these hardworking individuals reflect upon their jobs conflicting with their school work they once again reach similar conclusions. Hallmeyer specifically notes that working exclusively on the weekends allows for him to remain up to date on all of his homework. When asked about how she balances school and work, Segler said, “Some of the families are very willing to let me do homework while I am watching the kids. They also want me to be succeeding as a student.”
These two individuals are just a small portion of those on campus who also maintain the status of employee as well as student. As we look forward to the future, it is evident that the time-honored tradition of high school workers shall live on.