As students get older and have the need for more money, they tend to apply to work at local restaurants or maybe their favorite clothing store. However, some students get a little more creative with their job choices. Three Maize and Maize South students found unique and interesting jobs that fit with what they enjoy most and what they want to do later in life.
Maize South senior Evan Reyes began this fall working as a haunt/scare actor at Field of Screams, a haunted attraction in Maize, Kansas. Reyes talks about how working there fits well with his interests and how he got involved with the company.
“I love acting,” Reyes said. “I do theater at my school, and Mrs. Horning and Mr. Simmons [drama teachers at MSHS] are managers there so they were able to recommend me and asked me… if I’d like to audition.”
Reyes explains that the job is very different from a retail or food service job. He mentions that you have to be 18 to apply, so as the youngest there often the people he works with are considerably older than him.
“The best [part about] my job is being able to work with a couple friends of mine that have graduated, on top of being able to work with Mrs. Horning and Mr. Simmons- it’s just a great experience,” Reyes said.
Maize senior Grace Birkemo is a swim instructor at the Northwest YMCA. Birkemo also is on the swim team at MHS and says that is why she decided to teach swimming and water safety to kids.
“The best thing… [is] when the kids really want to learn, and they want to know ‘what can I do better?’” Birkemo said. “[But sometimes] they don’t listen well, and it’s really stressful because, when I have group lessons there can be eight or six kids and I have to keep them all [focused]… that can be kind of overwhelming.”
However, even when it gets hard, Birkemo says she really enjoys her job as a swim teacher. “I didn’t think I would enjoy working in the food industry very much… with swim lessons, you’re teaching people how to do something rather than offering a service, and I really enjoy it. I didn’t think I would find a job like that.”
Grant Frazier, Maize South senior, spends a few evenings a week at Flying Pig Club out of Stearman Field Airport, cleaning their airplanes and refueling them. Frazier has worked there for two years and likes the job because it matches with his aspiration to become an aircraft pilot.
“[Working here] is a lot better [than a retail or food service job] because I get to work alone, I get to pick when I work, [I] probably get paid better, and I get to be around airplanes,” Frazier said.
