[slideshow_deploy id=’1469′]

Summer has sadly come to a close. Days spent relaxing poolside are now in the past, and it’s time to reflect on everything that happened during our vacation before we become lost in the scramble of another busy school year.

While some students spent the summer enjoying their time off by sleeping in all day, or having fun by the ocean, others went out and worked their way through their vacation for a little extra cash. You might not even realize just how many students decided that they would spend their vacations employed.

Maeve Lynch, a senior, spent her summer working at Rita’s dishing out frozen treats with friends Patrick Mooney, Molly Bagli, and Tyler Carr. Working everyday definitely took its toll, but receiving good tips made the work worth it.

Senior Mark Krenovich worked as a camp counselor at Coppermine Fieldhouse, an athletic complex, where he helped kids participate in activities like rock-climbing and archery. Mark’s least favorite part of the job was waking up early, but crazy events happened all of the time, keeping him wide awake, like being thrown into the camp pool with the other counselors on a particularly early morning wake up call.

Senior Leo Lei also worked with kids as a tennis instructor at the David Mast tennis camp. While carrying a water jug up a seemingly endless hill everyday was a struggle, the experience of spreading one of his passions easily made up for this toil.

Marcus Shaw, a senior, took his ambitions to the bustling streets of New York where he interned at the Brooklyn District Attorney Office. For those of you who don’t know, the attorney business is serious. It ranges from writing court summons to dealing with assaulted victims to hearing cases which might make your stomach turn. Marcus said that entering such an established firm was a little intimidating at first, but he quickly made good friends with the other interns and decided that he wanted to work as an attorney someday.

Many kids stayed local, and ended up working in their community pools. Seniors Conner Reed and Stephi Jones worked as life guards at the Stoneleigh Pool. Meanwhile, junior Daniel Forbes spent his time working around a different source of water at the Loch Raven Reservoir. He distributed kayaks and stacked fishing equipment. On days when he was really lucky, his boss even allowed him to take kayaks out on the water himself.

Even though most working students only sought a bit of extra income, their jobs also offered unexpected experience. They improved their time management skills and many got to spend time with old friends while also making new ones. Their experiences may have even inspired career paths for later in life. The life guards learned what it means to bear responsibility for others, and those in customer service learned basic money handling.

As the summer days came to a close and students left their seasonal jobs, I think all the workers agree that their jobs were worth it. While Towson students march on into a new grade and a new year, they can hopefully reminisce about the fun experiences they had, and the possibility of returning to their jobs next year.