Siri Iagnemma
What’s your vision of a perfect summer day? Mine includes an afternoon swim at Crane Beach with good friends, a lunch of lobster rolls and lemonade, followed by a trip to Rancatore’s as the sun is setting. What my daydream usually omits is the cost of these events. Sadly, some of summer’s most enjoyable activities aren’t cheap, and as a result, many of Belmont’s teens end up working summer jobs.
A classic site for teen summer work is the town pool. On a scorching summer day, Underwood Pool is crowded with parents, grandparents, toddlers, kids, and a squad of teen lifeguards keeping a watchful eye. Lifeguarding is serious work — after all, lifeguards have the responsibility to prevent injury and even save lives — but it’s also a job that lets teens spend time in the sun on beautiful summer afternoons.
I remember as a kid looking up to the teen lifeguards, thinking they had the most glamorous job in the world. Christopher Bauge, who lifeguarded at the town pool last summer, told me the most rewarding thing about being a lifeguard was “hearing different stories from different people, learning about their respective communities, and bonding over our shared love of the pool. It’s a space that becomes like a second home.”
Another prime location for teen summer work is an ice cream parlor. Belmont is lucky to have a few — Moozy’s, Ranc’s, and the newest addition, Art’s Creamery. Although scooping ice cream all day at a busy shop can be tiring, fatigue is made up for by the fact that you spend time with friends doing something that puts a smile on people’s faces. On a hot, humid August day, there’s nothing better than walking into a cool ice cream shop and the server standing behind the counter becomes the greatest person in the world. Three of my friends currently work at Moozy’s, and they clued me into the best part of the job: free ice cream.
Another popular spot for summer work is summer camp. While corralling wayward kids, bandaging boo-boos, and tying shoe laces all day can be exhausting, watching kids grow and learn while enjoying the outdoors can also be deeply gratifying. A friend who worked at a nearby summer camp in Newton reported that being a counselor “was hard work but was also really rewarding.”
There’s something special about summer work for every teenager. Spending time with friends in the summer sunshine makes even the longest shifts sail by. Belmont is a small, close-knit community, with many stores enthusiastically hiring local teens for summer work, so summer jobs become a way for teens to make new friendships and deepen existing ones. Some days it feels like an added bonus that we also get paid.
Siri Iagnemma writes about Gen Z for The Belmont Voice. She is a rising junior at Belmont High School.