As great as a free summer is, having a job is a great way to prepare yourself for the best freshman year ever. As the fun years of high school are over, the work experience (big or small) will provide the best life lessons! Why not take advantage of your free time so that you are more prepared for adulthood on your own! So if you take any advice away from this, I highly recommend you work the summer before you go to school, freshman or not! I'm sure these 5 reasons will entice you to start applying right away so you don't miss your prime job opportunity!
1. Money for adventures
College is great until all your friends want to go to a concert, go on a road trip, or go out to dinner off campus and you didn’t save money for events like these. Don’t get me wrong there are days during the summer, before college, that working is the LAST thing you want to be doing as you and your best friends are about to part ways for the next year. But the best thing is having money saved up from that job to go on crazy adventures with your new friends, and enjoy a nice dinner that's not in the student union.
2. Time management
The schedule of a college student, for the most part is a huge adjustment. Having to learn to prioritize your time between class work and adult responsibilities plus other commitments is difficult for everyone, but much more familiar and manageable when you have previously had a job. Having a job teaches you to delegate time for hard work so you have more time to explore the opportunities around you.
3. Prepare for college
Working 40 hour weeks in an office helped prepare me for college by keeping my brain learning new things and working hard every day. Constantly working hard to improve my typing skills and be able to multitask while typing became so handy in college! Returning to school after months off can be a challenge for some but continuing to type everyday, or using programs like Excel come in handy when the first day of school comes around and you feel like you haven’t lost your touch!
4. Value of the dollar
Having to spend your own money, that you worked your butt off for, takes a whole new light on how you want to spend it. Having a job before college makes you learn the value of the dollar and a hard working day. And, if you are spending your money rather your parents' you’re definitely less inclined to spend it because you spent your precious time and energy working for it.
5. References
When college comes around, I would hope everyone’s end goal is a job in their career field. I can guarantee that job is going to require references and having a job before college is a great way to gain references; people know your work ethic and would vouch for you to make a great employee! Great references will get you ahead of the game over your colleagues and that is so important for employers to see that you will make a great candidate for their job. Better hope they have nothing but great things to say!
