1. What is your part-time job? How do you like it?

MaryKate Smith: I work at 13th floor haunted house in Melrose Park, and I absolutely love it there!

Mackenzie Carlson: I work at 13th floor haunted house part-time, but the season just ended so I’m picking up another job soon. I worked there last season too, and at the time it was my first job, which I honestly couldn’t have been luckier to have.

Alyssa Esposito: I work as an Admissions Associate at Brookfield Zoo. It is a nice and easy job because all I do is check memberships and IDs and scan tickets.  Sometimes it is really hard because the people I encounter can be incredibly rude.

2. How do you balance your work and school? Is there a significant challenge?

MaryKate Smith: I typically do my homework during study hall or while waiting to get my makeup on/ take my actors into the haunted house. Sometimes it’s hard to do online assignments since I don’t have access to a computer in my down time at work, but I manage to get by using mobile apps.

Mackenzie Carlson: Balancing working there and school has been easier this year but last year it was actually horrible. I wouldn’t get home until 12 or 1 in the morning so I wasn’t getting enough sleep, and I had absolutely no time to do any homework with going straight to work from school, to the point where my grades started to suffer. This year I’ve gotten much better at time management and getting my homework done while working, but it’s definitely a challenge still.

Alyssa Esposito: The zoo is open 365 days a year so during school I can only work weekends because we close at 5.

3. What is your opinion about minimum wage?

MaryKate Smith: I definitely think minimum wage should be higher. It hasn’t inflated proportionately with the economy, and most minimum-wage jobs are much harder than one would think.

Mackenzie Carlson: I don’t mind minimum wage so much with my job because it’s so much fun, but with any other job I might be a little more opinionated on it. I don’t think it’s anywhere near enough for anyone to live on, and I’m lucky to say that I’ve never had to experience that first hand. In other words, I think that minimum wage is perfectly fine for a privileged person like myself, just working for some pocket money and college savings, but for anyone to actually live on? Definitely not enough.

Alyssa Esposito: I don’t really have a great understanding on minimum wage because I make $10.50 an hour.

There are responses from more people coming up! I’m still waiting!