By Julia Lucey
For many local teenagers, with schoolwork off their minds and far fewer hours of homework to complete, summer becomes the optimal time to give a go at their first real working experiences– and, excitingly, receive their first real paychecks.
One of the most popular summer jobs in the area is lifeguarding, as swimming at the beach or spending the day by the pool is a favorite activity for many here in town when the weather’s warm. Olivia Baine, 16, will be a junior this fall at GHS, and this summer she is working as a lifeguard at Rocky Point Club in Old Greenwich. Guards must be certified; certification is awarded at the end of a training course that includes instruction both in and out of the water. Once certified and employed, lifeguards like Olivia are responsible for watching whichever bodies of water the facility has open for swimming. At Rocky Point, Olivia switches between monitoring the club’s pools and its beachfront where members are able to swim in the Sound. In addition to guarding, Olivia is also occasionally expected to help with keeping the facilities clean for the club’s members. She thought this job would be a good way to keep busy this summer and has found her favorite part of the job to be talking with the little kids that frequent the pool.
In addition, many pool clubs in town run summer swim teams that participate in the Fairfield County Swim League every season. Assistant coaching positions for these programs are popular amongst high schoolers and college students with swimming backgrounds as it gives them a chance to put their own knowledge of the strokes to good use. For instance, Emma Robinson, 16, is a rising GHS junior and is working as an assistant coach to the Greenwich Water Club’s swim team this summer. For 20 hours a week, Emma works closely with swimmers of all age groups learning to swim and working on their technique in preparation for swim meets. She helps coach about four practices daily, with children ranging from age five to 17. A competitive swimmer herself, Emma has been participating in the summer swim league at her own club since she was five years old and has wanted to be a summer coach ever since, which led her to the Water Club this summer. She shared that she has really enjoyed getting to know all the team participants and that it has been great “being around kids who are so motivated to get faster and have fun” these past few weeks. She is excited to see advancement already in the swimmers: “Watching them improve over the last few weeks has been exciting for both me and them.”
Another job you’ll find occupied by many young people this summer is at your local cafes and ice cream shops, whether it be behind a cash register or a part of the waitstaff. Caroline Regan, 17, is an incoming senior at Greenwich High and works at Rosie’s Frozen Yogurt in Old Greenwich. Caroline’s responsibilities include working the register, refilling the yogurt machines and topping containers, keeping the facility clean, and assisting customers when needed. With the recent reopening, she is now also responsible for additional routine cleaning of high touch surfaces. Caroline works 15 hours a week at Rosie’s, a job she came across via Greenwich High School’s Student Employment Service and was recommended to her by a friend. She says her favorite part of her job are her coworkers — “We all get along so well with each other that shifts are so enjoyable!”
For other teens, summer vacation is a great time to explore an area of interest through internships. Margaret Tracey, 17, will be a GHS senior this coming school year, and this summer she’s working as a research intern for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. She collaborates virtually with the lab, gathering information about Covid-19 and various clinical trials to present weekly via Zoom. She explained, “I haven’t been given my exact project yet, and details are still being worked out,” but as the internship progresses, it is likely to start focusing on “strategies to assist Covid survivors in tracking their long-term recovery via a set of weekly questions.” Margaret applied to partake in this program because of her interest in science, particularly biology, and loves that this opportunity has given her a platform to mix her passion for science with her love for helping others as Covid continues to affect a large part of the world.
For many kids, summer means summer camp, and these programs couldn’t run without the help of their counselors. For instance, Patrick Lucey, 18, graduated from GHS this past June and is spending his last summer before college as a paddle boarding and kayaking instructor at Greenwich Community Sailing. Patrick works 40 hours a week, mainly teaching the junior kayaking and paddle boarding classes offered for late elementary school and middle school kids. During a typical class, campers and instructors launch from the Community Sailing area at Tod’s Point and make their way through the inlet toward the small island, dubbed “Hobo Island,” situated in the middle of the cove. Here, Patrick and his campers will often swim in the Sound, and on other days they may tie up their boards or kayaks to an available mooring and allow the kids to jump in the water and splash around. Beyond instructing, other responsibilities Patrick attends to include setting up the facility at the beginning of the day and cleaning up at the end, as well as helping with the daily rentals. Patrick highlighted that his favorite parts of the job include “interacting with my coworkers” who he quickly became friends with upon starting the job and “being out on the water” everyday. As a former camper himself, when he heard about this job through school, he knew it would be a perfect fit for him.
And while summer vacation can also mean staying up late and sleeping in even later, lounging at the beach, and doing anything else that the school year typically prevents kids from doing, most high schoolers here in town keep busy through their jobs, as well through their fun. It’s a good experience, it brings with it new friends and skills, and, of course, it puts some spending money in their pockets. After all, who doesn’t remember their first real job fondly.
