Outdoor Jobs Attract Students for Summer

By: Emily Newton
Posted In: News

A bottle of Banana Boat SPF 15 sunblock. UV protection full coverage aviator sunglasses. A favorite pair of blue rubber Old Navy flip-flops. A comfortable red cotton stretchy visor. One might not think of these items as necessities for showing up to work everyday.

But some Salve Regina students must bring these when showing up to their summer jobs. These students are not gazing longingly out of cheap retail store windows at the beautiful sunny weather, instead they are soaking up the sun and enjoying it themselves.

Sounds like the ideal summer job of getting a tan while getting paid minimum wage or higher, but jobs like these tpically come with a large responsibility. These jobs are hidden gems in the college workforce and their high desirability causes them to be hard to acquire or difficult to hold on to.

Most common outdoor jobs for students at Salve Regina entail working with children or manual labor. Babysitting, camp counselors, and lawn-care are several examples of work that many students choose to make money.

Diana Malachowski, a sophomore who’s majoring in marketing and business administration, knows what it is like to have a fun but tedious outdoor summer job. Working as a hostess and waitress in the outside patio of the Black Pearl in Newport, she says she enjoys the fresh air at the warf and people watching the tourists in the harbor while in between waiting on tables.

But she also pointed out that sometimes it can get really busy and she constantly has to tell customers to stop lighting up their cigarettes because it’s an outdoor restaurant they think they are free to smoke. Like many other college students, Malachowski took advantage of a job where she can work minimum wage while still enjoying the summer weather.

Working as a nanny in Ridgefield, Conn., Emily Cowen, a sophomore photography major, also has a job where she spends countless hours outside in the summer sun. She begins her workday by picking the children up at 8 a.m. and continues to entertain them at playgrounds, sailing camp, swimming in the pool as well as other ways until 5 p.m. At $15 an hour, Cowen feels great responsibility to care for the children’s safety while playing with others as well as keeping protected from the sun’s rays.

A summer job such as Cowen’s is difficult because she must always be on guard with the children, however the money is generous, the schedule relatively lenient and she gets the desirable bronzed tan of a beach- goer.

Toni LaCava, a sophomore education major from Holliston, Mass., spends her summers outdoors as a camp counselor at The Adirondack Camp in Franklin, Mass. At $ 13 an hour payroll, she serves as arts and crafts coordinator to 3- 15 year olds. Working from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday after she makes the 20-minute drive is not too painful because her sister also works at the camp so they commute together. The most difficult part of being a counselor for the children is the behavioral issues, but it all pays off because she can use the tennis courts whenever she wishes and enjoy the nice days.

In a recent survey 70 percent of parents say they would rather see their children spend their time outdoors, just as the many activities students at Salve Regina University have taken advantage of for summer jobs.