<p>Everything I’ve read about USNA says it is great to have a real job under your belt. I never have because 1) I would have to quit every spring because of sports and 2) I make all the money I need by mowing lawns. Should I give up mowing lawns and go for a real job?</p>
<p>My son only had a summer job. The rest of his time was consumed with studies, student council, athletics and debate. Our liasion officer recommended a part time job to “show” an ability to cope with being able to do many things at the same time.</p>
<p>I think it depends on your resume and what you are doing.</p>
<p>It is possible to participate in sports and also have a part time job while in school. To do so, you need to have organizational and time management skills.</p>
<p>My son works part time in the mornings as a Computer Technician (Intern) for the school district, attends his regular classes for the remainder of the day then particpates in varsity athletics in the afternoon. After completing his athletics, he attends classes in the evenings at two different community colleges. Normally my son doesn’t get home until after 10 p.m. He doesn’t get much sleep these days, so he decided to drop a part-time job as a shift supervisor at a local pizza & sub joint to free up his Friday and Saturday evenings.</p>
<p>My daughter, who is a junior in HS, also has a similar schedule but it isn’t quite as rigorous.</p>
<p>The moral of the story is that you CAN do it all if you really want to but it will take a lot of hard work on your part. There will come times when conflicts will arise that will need to be worked out with employers and coaches.</p>
<p>S2 works at a grocery store as a bagger/cashier. During football season, they allow him to work one day a week (Sunday afternoons/evenings). Now that they season is over, he’ll pick up a few more days/week.</p>
<p>S1 also worked at same grocery store in customer service. When interviewing for NROTC scholarship, the interviewer was very impressed that he held the same job with a lot of responsibility for 2 years during h.s. He indicated that it showed more maturity and responsibility than being president of a bunch of school clubs (which S1 was not). </p>
<p>So it can be done and definitely looks good.</p>
<p>There are a lot of people out there that believe that you need this “part time job” to round out your resume. Quite frankly it is not true. A summer job, even just mowing lawns, which shows that you can be productive and account for your time in a productive way is looked at as favorably as the part time job during the academic year. </p>
<p>During the school year your “job” is just that: to go to school, and be an active and productive member of your school community. A student who participates in a wide variety of school activities, volunteers either through your school or church will be just as attractive to colleges as a person who holds down that part time job. School is not just classes and athletics: be a leader at school, participate in athletics, fine arts, technical arts, service projects, peer leadership, and public speaking. That “shows” just as much an “ability to cope with being able to do many things at the same time.”</p>
<p>My son never had a part time job during the academic year and was told during his MOC interview that he had one of the best résumé’s they had ever seen. With all of the variety that he had participated in during high school, this has opened many doors to get involved with at USNA. Flipping burgers certainly wouldn’t have given him the skill sets needed for some of the EC’s he has been recruited to join. </p>
<p>The bottom line is make sure what you are doing you are doing for the right reasons, not because it looks good!</p>
<p>Our son’s only job has been soccer referee for the local park and rec dept. in the summer. In his interview with one of his MOCs, he was asked about this. They asked what other activities limited his employment. He brought up the fact that since my wife and I work full time, he was responsible for getting his younger brother and sister up, dressed, fed and to school each morning when we were working. The panel was very impressed with that, and said many adults couldn’t get that done every morning, and still get to school(work) on time. </p>
<p>What I am saying is, that a job is not necessary, but have a good reason why not, and be able to show responsibility and time management some other way.</p>
<p>Personally, if you are doing varsity level sports, participating in other school/community activites and keeping up with academics, adding a job to that mix can be difficult.</p>
<p>What you might consider is getting some work during the summer- that is very doable. </p>
<p>Whatever you do, select something of interest to you, and do it well. Quality is much better than quantity.</p>
<p>There was NO WAY our child could have fit a job into her hours of her day, and still keep a straight A average. She was taking 6 AP classes her senior year, was Commader of a Civil Air Patrol Squadron, president of her Fellowship of Christian Athletes at school, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. She was already living on 5 hours sleep every night of the week just to maintain. I in fact told her she was not to find a job. I also reduced all her home chores to the bare minimums, which I did not do with my other 4 children. Why? Because we as a family were all committed to helping launch this child who had dreams to serve her country and attend USNA. I also figured we may as well find out whether or not she would succeed with these kinds of impossible demands on her mentally, emotionally and physically - better as a high school senior at home to discover she couldn’t handle it, than during Plebe Summer/year.</p>
<p>She ended up with an LOA in early Oct. - so clearly the Admin Board wasn’t putting a job as a ‘must have’ on someone they indicated they wanted as one of their earliest picks.</p>
<p>So the bottom line as I see it is each young person and family must make the decisions for the use of time/energy that each young person can make. Yes having a job is another way to show discipline and responsibility to USNA or ROTC. But it is only one of the ways - so please some of you don’t go off and get a part-time job simply to add one more line to your resume.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help. I went out and applied for a job today aa a grocery bagger.</p>
<p>Good luck USNA,I Hope. Both my boys have found grocery store work to be much better than the fast food jobs their friends have had. Hope it goes well for you.</p>
<p>The key word is “balance”. You have to keep your grades up and still cover the sports angle. If you can swing it, having a job will only help, as well as teach you some early and valuable lessons on life.</p>
<p>Good luck! :)</p>