Have you ever wondered what Williston students do once school ends in May? More specifically, have you ever asked yourself if any students have paying jobs throughout the summer, or even the school year?

A recent survey conducted by The Willistonian, revealed that 63 percent of Williston students have paying jobs, whether it is just during the school year or during the summer.

Many Williston Students have jobs that include coaching, babysitting, or designing shirts and stickers. Others are camp counselors, secretaries, cashiers, sales reps, or lifeguards.

Neysea Tapanes ’16 said, “I make designs and sell them on t-shirts, stickers, etc. It’s not an active job; I don’t have to go to work every day. But I try to make a few new designs and introduce them to my store slowly over time.”

Tapanes’s job is run online through a website called Redbubble, but that does not limit the possibilities of selling the t-shirts, hoodies, and stickers she designed. Redbubble prints her designs onto these items and makes them available through her page, http://www.redbubble.com/people/neysalovescats.

Tapanes commented, “Having an online job is nice. I also get to connect with the people that bought items on my store from around the world.” She added, “I had one girl from the Netherlands send me an Instagram video of the sticker on her computer and another girl from England send me a picture of herself wearing the hoodie I designed.”

While Tapanes works when she can, many students find it difficult to balance both school and work.   One difficulty students face in having a job is the limited free time in their schedule.  In a poll of fifty students, twenty-eight percent said they work during the school year, while sixty-nine percent of students work during the summer, and two percent of said they work during both the school year and summer.

Vikram Dalmiya ’18, who works during both the summer and school year as a tour guide and camp counselor, said, “I bring groups of twelve out in remote areas and make sure they come back. I volunteer at a summer camp for people with disabilities.”

When asked why he decided to work during the summer, as well as during the school year, Dalmiya shared his motto, “Do what you love.”

According to the survey respondents, three percent of Williston students are unable to have a job during the summer or school year.

Loren Po ’14, one of the students who cannot work, commented, “I just don’t have a car so I’m not able to go to a regular whole day job, but I volunteer places for a few hours at time.”

Three jobs in particular stand out as being the most popular jobs for students at Williston: lifeguard, camp counselor, and coach. Of these three jobs, being a camp counselor was the most popular within the Williston community. Most of these counselors also work with children between the ages of five and eleven.

With sixty-three percent of Williston students in the workforce, one might say that Williston’s core values influence more than those who are directly involved with the school.