It’s the time of the year where many students have a decision to make about how to spend their summer: They either spend their time at work making money or they enjoy doing absolutely nothing for 3 months.

Many students have full schedules during the school year and are too busy to work. Summer is a great time to work hard and make up for lost time; since it’s usually the only time of the year students can make money. “I work at Home Depot in summer only because I’m so busy with basketball and baseball during the school year. I also want to have time to hang out with my friends and do some schoolwork during the school year and don’t want to feel too overwhelmed having a job,” junior Ben James said.

Students have all different types of jobs during these three months of freedom. Some align with their future careers and others are more fun and relaxed. “I am a nanny three days a week, and I am also doing an internship for a guy named Steve Warren. He owns around five companies, and it’ll be a marketing and business internship,” junior Sophie Melsness said.

There are many factors that go into the decision of getting a job. Having a license has a major impact on whether students want to or are able to work. Being able to drive to work makes things much easier, not only for the employee but also for their family and the company. When an employee can provide their own transportation, the job is more seamless for everyone. “Having a license was important in my decision of getting a job because I would never work if I didn’t have it. It would be too hard to work without one. Scheduling my shifts would be hard and finding a way to get there would be hard so it makes a difference to have a license for work,” James said.

Some students choose to savor every bit of free time they have instead of working over the short summer months. Summer sports can take up lots of time, and it can be hard to find work availability. “I’m just too busy to get a job because of hockey, baseball, and soccer,” sophomore Peter Giertsen said.

Having friends at work can make working less dreadful. Many students enjoy work more when they are with their friends. A lot of kids try to make the best of their working situation by becoming friends with their coworkers, if they’re not already. “I have made work friends and they make working more fun. I wouldn’t be coming back to this job this summer if I didn’t have friends there,” James said.