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Readers: Tell us about your most memorable summer job

We want to hear about your unforgettable summer job.

A lifeguard high fives a participant at a water safety day event. Sabastian Wee

July 28, 2023

1 minute to read

The variety of summer jobs are seemingly endless: ice cream scooper, lifeguard, babysitter, dog-walker, cashier. The list goes on.

For many, a summer job is an opportunity to earn a bit of cash, make some new friends and memories, and learn valuable life skills.

More on summer jobs:

Harvard undergraduate Josefine Hasbo’s summer job: Starting for Denmark at the Women’s World Cup

And for some, like Harvard undergraduate student Josefine Hasbo, a summer job can even mean launching a professional athletics career by starting for Denmark at the Women’s World Cup.

Up to 7,000 jobs were made available for Boston youths ages 14 to 18 at the start of the summer as part of the city’s seasonal employment program for young people, officials said in April.

“This year, we will be making the largest ever investment” in the program, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said, by offering “1,000 more jobs than we did last year and the most jobs that this program has ever created.”

Having a summer job is not just financially beneficial to workers; it has also been shown to have positive effects on socio-emotional skills, academic and career aspirations, and work habits associated with job readiness, according to a study from Rhode Island College.

Take it from Jon Gorey, who “attended the Market Basket academy of summer jobs” as a teen – colloquially known as bagging groceries – and learned a thing or two about navigating the real world.

“I gained confidence conversing with strangers and navigating managers. And I learned how payroll taxes work, how to cash a check, and how it’s harder to waste your money once you understand what went into earning it,” he wrote in a Boston Globe article.

If you’re currently working in a summer job or have an unforgettable summer job memory, we want to hear about them — even the horror stories. What made your summer job memorable? What did you do, how much were you paid, and how old were you? Share with us in the survey below or e-mail us at [email protected], and your response may appear in an upcoming Boston.com article.

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