Summer break means many different things to everyone. For some people, it is a time of vacations and fun times with your families and friends. For some, it could be working a part time job, while balancing the two in a chill way. For a lot of people, however, it means working one or two jobs full time, just to scrape enough money up to try and survive the upcoming school year. I am currently one of the latter group, as I am working two jobs. Summer for me means chaos and continued stress, as I work to balance the crazy conflicting schedules and insane hours, all while trying to find a way to have a little fun this summer. However, even though most of the time I don't enjoy managing two jobs, I have learned quite a bit while doing it.

I have been working at a fast food restaurant since I was 16 years old. 3 years later, and I am an old pro at taking orders, helping other co-workers, and I make a really pretty ice cream cone if I do say so myself. But especially this summer, I have grown extremely tired of the fast food business. I find it harder and harder to stay civil with the awful customers, and I come home just overall hating my life. Coming from this experience I already had learned something. Summer jobs don't need to be something that you hate. I kept that in mind when applying for the second job, which is why I ended up at a resort, working in the kids club there. I already love this job so much more than working fast food. This reassured me that I did not want to be in customer service for the rest of my life, and that going to be a teacher is really a good choice for me. I get to work along a beautiful lake, making crafts with kids, and getting glitter everywhere, which for me, is practically the perfect summer job.

Another thing I have gotten better at so far this summer has been time management. While this was already a skill I had been developing, especially in college, it is so much worse accounting for the time when you need to drive everywhere. In college, I could literally wake up 20 minutes before my first class, and still make it there on time. With jobs, its a little more complicated. I've learned to account for the travel time, the possible accident time, and the just being overall late time. Time is a complicated thing, especially when trying to balance two jobs, but being able to manage it is something I have gotten better at.

I have also learned that change is more times than not, a good thing in a person's life. I can see now that I was really only staying at this fast food restaurant because my mom made me and because it was a safe, easy choice. I had gotten used to working there, and I because I never branched out from it, I didn't see how horrible of a job it really is. Working at my new job, I saw that jobs can really be fun if you just try to find something you like. I was hesitant about getting a second job, but it showed me that switching up your everyday schedule can be a really good thing for a person.

Even with all of the hours I am working, I still find myself in a place that I am happy with. I will still work fast food for the rest of this summer, but I know that that place is not in my future. So if someone is thinking about taking on a second job, I highly encourage it! Everyone could use a little extra money in the summers, and while the hours can get a little much, I have found that it is completely manageable! Just make sure to make room for at least a little fun this summer!