COVID19.

The word has power.

It has power because it’s affected so many people, and changed so many lives throughout 2020.  It has power because it’s confusing, and unstable, and complicated.

Our unemployment rates are as low as they’ve been since the Great Recession of 2008.  This affects everybody around us. Adults. Children.  College students. It’s a reality that we must confront and cope with, and power through if we are to discover new jobs within our ever-changing society.

Students in particular have been having a difficult time finding jobs.

As they have no working experience, have never been to college, and are striving to create new careers, the inevitability of having to graduate from school and find employment in the real world is increasingly worrying.

Scotty Wingfield, a Junior at Oakdale High School, is aware of the problems caused by the pandemic.  He’s adopted a part time job in response.

“I like my job,” explains Wingfield.  “It makes me money.  As an employee, it’s your duty to get to know everyone else and be as friendly as possible with them.  With that in mind, I know where they have been and trust them enough to make the right judgment calls.”

As to what he has to do at work: “We wash hands regularly, wear gloves all the time, and do daily temperature checks.  We clean and wipe down heavily trafficked areas to reduce the spread of germs and/or viruses.”

Because he works in food service, safety is a top priority.  It’s difficult to find work during COVID19, to gain promotions, and to make a decent salary, but through new restrictions in restaurants and food service locations, at least safety is one fact that can be (mostly) guaranteed.

So are part time jobs a less risky way to gain experience and money, while also solidifying careers within a pandemic?

Grant Robley, a senior at Oakdale High School, expressed, “I love my job. It’s an environment where I’m supported and trusted, which is hard to find at such a young age. Working at my job allows me to mature quicker, and learn to fend for myself and be able to take responsibility if something was my fault.”

This proves that part time jobs are the ideal way to cope during COVID19.  New working experience, personal development, and COVID safety measures allow students to ease into the ever difficult world of the current pandemic.

So apply for a job. It might help you out more than you think.