What was your first summer job?
I was probably about 11 or 12 when I started working. My early jobs included walking a neighbor’s dogs, teaming up with Deena; watching the same neighbor’s baby while she cleaned her basement; writing letters for the blind woman who lived a few houses down. All of these gigs were short-term and paid in cash.
My parochial high school also offered students 14 years of age and older work opportunities in various positions during the school year: office administration, custodial, and graders. For one school year I was the grader for the French teacher, Madame Schwindt. She was a lovely woman who most students liked, even if they struggled to learn French. Rather than paying students directly, the school deducted our earnings from our tuition. As I think about it now, that may not have been a legitimate business practice. Pops did give me cash to cover some of what was deducted from my tuition, though.
The first summer job I clearly remember, though, was being a counselor at my church’s day camp for kids between the ages of six and twelve. I was in charge of a small group of six- and seven-year-old kids, who were well-behaved and full of curiosity. From Monday through Friday, we met in the church’s youth room, a large space with a kitchen, restrooms, and an office for the youth pastor who led the camp. Pastor Tim* and a couple college-aged counselors held worship and music every morning, which segued into secular singalongs and light exercise to get the kids ready for the day. Once a week we took the kids to the indoor swimming pool at the adjacent college. There were also duckpin bowling and roller skating trips, art projects in the atrium of the church’s youth building, and movies in the youth room on super hot days. At least twice we went to a small waterpark in northern Virginia, loading everyone up on school buses. There were zoo and aquarium visits, and we may have gone to a few museums as well. The work was intense for 16-year-old me, and I came home every day completely exhausted. Overall it was a positive experience.
What was your first summer job? What was the most memorable part of that experience?