Endless hours. Sleepless nights. Unyielding workload. This is the life of a student with an after-school job; however, at the end of the day the work will pay off.

Having a job can throw a high schooler’s already hectic schedule into chaos. When the challenges of school meet the struggles of work, it can create a stressful lifestyle.

“It’s definitely difficult. I go in and out with keeping up with my schoolwork. It gets tiring always trying to be on top of everything,” Janiya Douglas (12) employee at BRIDGES said.  

While there are clear downsides of working after school, there are benefits that make the hard work worthwhile.

“I think one of the benefits is you are getting paid, and it’s like you’re making connections, like if you need a recommendation for school or  you need to go to a different job,” Andrea Brimhall (11), employee of The Kroc Center of Memphis, said.

Time seems to always be slipping away as a high school student, but some feel that having a part-time job is a valuable way to spend an afternoon.

“You can make money in the time that most people would go home and get on their phone or play Xbox or watch Netflix,” Austin Williams (11), employee at Gibson’s Donuts, said.

Others see the advantages of working at a job they believe can help them express themselves.

“[I enjoy] having the platform to speak and work on issues that are not easy to speak about and having that platform to feel like I’m actually doing something towards justice in our city,”  Douglass said.

Even though working after school may cause additional stress, students can learn valuable lessons that will help them achieve their goals in the future.