The clock strikes 3:45. Students sprint out of their desks in the classrooms that they slumped into sluggishly just 90 minutes prior. While most students will head to their cars or ride the bus back to their house to crawl into their long-awaited beds, some students are breaking the bank by getting jobs all across the city. These Dubs are taking advantage of their newly acquired freedom and looking to bag a pretty penny.

Businesses large and small are looking to hire youth employees. Despite the under-18 work restrictions, youth employment can bring something that typical nine-to-fivers can’t and that is constant energy and dedication. Whether it is the countless “my pleasure’s” that teenage Chick-Fil-A employees utter during their shift, or the bright smiles of a Publix bagger, young workers are a hot commodity in a tight and competitive job market. Who knows if the smiles are about the job or just about being out of school and making money, but the energy is evident and beneficial. For many working Dubs, work feels more like a hobby than a job. North Atlanta junior and self-proclaimed “Chopt salad connoisseur,” Hugh Breeden said, “It’s always entertaining to have people your age working with you. We can talk about all sorts of stuff like school, life, and everything and nothing at the same time. Mid-shift banter is almost always fun unless Lizzie Havey degrades your shrimp cutting abilities.” 

Just when it seems like the workplace is a safe haven from stress and all things school, a fellow NAHS student, or dare I say a teacher, can walk in. Turns out teachers and students have lives outside of school. Who knew? For many, the idea of interactions like that is rather daunting, but for others, it can make a slow or boring day at the office just that much better. By day Liza Fagin is a junior IB DP student, but by night (and weekends), she works at the go-to ice cream joint in Atlanta, Jeni’s. “I often see NAHS students at Jeni’s and I love to give discounts otherwise known as the “Dub Discount” to my fellow Warriors,” Fagin said. 

These working Warriors have a skill that is seemingly unmatched in the fast-paced and all-gas, no-brake society they live in: the art of multitasking and juggling responsibility. For the average student, school and extracurriculars are all they can cram into their tight schedules, but NAHS student-workers are up to the challenge of balancing even more, and they have mastered this art of multitasking. IB CP student and legend in the competitive field of online flag quizzes, Micah “Bearclaw” Povlot has a fool proof strategy to balance his work as a Publix cashier, school, and social life. “It is definitely hard to balance a job and school, but I have the luxury of being selective with scheduling, so I can work around days with lots of homework,” Povlot said. 

The drive and work ethic of working Dubs is unparalleled. From babysitting kids to serving them at restaurants, North Atlanta students are doing whatever it takes to make the big bucks. What they are saving for remains to be seen, but Warriors in the workplace are laughing all the way to the bank (and the classroom).