Whether it be House of Subs, Mangia, Yummy or Rita’s, your favorite place to grab a quick snack or meal likely holds a special place in your heart. But did you know that that place might go as far to irreversibly affect, mold and shape your young adult life?
Local businesses can be amazing for providing you with good food, good fun and even good safety—but they can also provide you with important life skills, a sense of independence and a paycheck to go with them. Great Neck businesses are steadily employing more and more North High students, as lifeguards, public safety officers and store employees. Students buckle away time after school or even over weekends to work part-time. This benefits not only businesses and the local community—as students get to see friendly or familiar faces, which encourages their engagement with local businesses—but also, and especially, the working students themselves.
Through their part-time jobs and work experience, North High students learn how to balance work and school, a soon-to-be useful skill for many students once in college, and are provided with a sense of pride as a result of their work. Students can even learn a little humility and gain perspective as to what it’s like to be in a true work environment and earn their recreation.
“I like working because it makes me feel like I’m giving back to my community. It helps me feel prepared for the real world and whatever future career I have” senior Noya Zarnighian said. “I think more people should have part-time jobs because it teaches responsibility and would really help North High students [learn what it’s like] to take on the responsibility of a paycheck”.
Some students find more than just the joy of earning their keep in their part-time jobs. Students working at local businesses in Great Neck can find an environment that stimulates their growth as a person, as well as provide them with the means to try something new or far outside the student day-to-day routine. First responders, like volunteer firefighters, are just one of many examples. The Vigilant Fire Department has been widely reported by students as a job in which they can not only feel important but also truly grow.
“The firehouse has allowed me to get outside my comfort zone physically, socially, and intellectually…Joining the Great Neck Vigilant Fire Department has undoubtedly changed my life for the better and given me opportunities I wouldn’t have had anywhere else” senior Christopher Wu said.
Furthermore, jobs like this can teach North High students long term soft skills which they will be able to carry with them throughout all walks of life. Work experience, even if unrelated to students’s future careers, prepares them for the struggles and realities of operating in a real work environment. Creating close ties, learning to get along with co-workers and turning a working space into a community are all fortunate byproducts of taking up a part-time job as a student.
“The firehouse has taught me how to be more level headed and how to properly handle stress as a tool,” North High graduate Gal Elkarat said. “To me, vigilant has meant brotherhood and commitment”.
Employment in local businesses can even provide decisive direction to students for their future careers or passions. Elkarat further reported that North High graduate Owen Flood, who worked with him at the Vigilant Fire Department, is continuing his work as a first responder in college as an EMS—no doubt inspired by his time as a firefighter. By taking a job far removed from the typical student life, students are provided with unique experiences that can inspire them and change the course of their entire adult lives.
Businesses in Great Neck are hiring students, and there are plenty of reasons to get involved; North High students going to their favorite lunch spot love to see their friends behind the counter. Student involvement in local businesses, then, of course promotes more engagement amongst their peers, however it also gives working students pride, community, life skills, career direction and even still, a little paycheck to fund a shopping spree or fun night out.
