PHOTO SEEMS OUT OF FOCUS.
Style errors in red
My comments in green
Working with children is more than feeding, changing, bathing, and entertaining them. For Hannah Pelton, a junior at the University of Arkansas, it pays the bills. (We discussed at the beginning of the semester that we wouldn’t interview students of Univ of Arkansas. They aren’t a good representation of the working poor. So I have a problem with this selection from the start) Mostly.
Pelton began working at the Boys and Girls Club in Fayetteville in January of 2017. The hours and pay (HOW MUCH IS SHE PAID?) were good, and gave her time to do her homework. Her previous job at the Hallmark Store in the Northwest Arkansas Mall caused her grades to slip and her motivation to dwindle.
“I had to be a student first,” Pelton said, “that’s why I’m here”.
Pelton works most days at the Boys and Girls club supervising children, playing games with them, helping them get their homework done, and talking about their problems with them. But the job isn’t always Monday-Friday. She spends some Saturday mornings at basketball games for a little boy, (WHO?) or buying Girl Scout Cookies from a girl who just needs one more box.
Officially, the Boys and Girls club is closed on the weekends, giving Pelton most Saturdays and Sundays to have the traditional college experience. The University of Arkansas is the school she always planned on going to, but not at a low cost. At the end of undergrad, Pelton will owe close to $80,000 in student loan debt.
Pelton is also a Communications Disorders student, pursuing a career in speech therapy. Graduate school is professionally required to get a job after graduation for rising speech therapists. An extra set of letters at the end of your name adds greater potential in the professional world, but an extra set of dollar signs out of your bank account shrinks yearly earnings in the long run.
When she decided to go to the University of Arkansas, Pelton’s parents responded with a comment of how great her student loan debt will be. They pay for her car insurance and gas, but that’s it.
Pelton uses her minimum wage salary (NEED TO SPECIFY) to pay for rent and groceries, and other expenses that may come up. Having the traditional college students these days is expensive. Students spend thousands of dollars a year on spring break, concert tickets, and having the newest pair of tennis shoes. (THIS IS OUT OF SYNC WITH THE WORKING POOR FOCUS OF THIS CLASS) She is often left out of trips and events because she is working or must buy groceries for the upcoming week.
Working a minimum wage job has taught Pelton crucial skills about budgeting and how to prioritize daily activities.
The Occupational Employment Statistics shows that over 7,000 people are employed as childcare workers in the state of Arkansas. It is a minimum wage job, earning less than $20,000 each year.
Most of the people Pelton works with are also college students, struggling to make ends meet without the help of their parents. There are a few supervisors who “are college educated adults” who do this as a living, Pelton says.
Even though the job isn’t glamorous and often doesn’t pay the bills, it is rewarding.
“I don’t get paid enough,” Pelton says. “I do more good than I get paid for.
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