Work Experience
Beginning in the summer of my sophomore year of high school, I started working as a workshop aid at Northeast Fence and Iron Works. This company manufactures and installs both residential and industrial fences and gates in the Philadelphia region and beyond. They did all the fencing and gates for Citizens Bank Park when it was being built, along with other projects at well known companies and locations in Philadelphia. My work started at 7am, and if you were not on the premises by 6:55, managers and executives would say you were late, and urge you to give yourself more time to ensure you arrived on time. The typical day was hard with few breaks or down time, and because of the little pay it was hard to stay motivated to work. Although working at the fence company was not enjoyable, I learned about the real world and my manual labor, low paying job motivated me to work harder in school and ensure a brighter future for myself. Although I hope to never hold a similar position as I had during those high school summers, I’ve learned a lot and do not regret working there despite some of the conditions.
Upon graduating High School, after working at Northeast Fence and Iron Works for two full summers, I felt the benefits I had once received from the work were not as evident. I decided to start caddying more regularly because it was better hours, less laborious, and much more profitable. I could usually work less than half the hours of my previous summer job and still make much more money, while allowing me to be around the game of golf. My hours were obviously more flexible, allowing me to play more golf during my last summer before college. Currently, I’m hoping to have more career oriented jobs and internships in the upcoming summers before graduation to prepare myself for the long career ahead of me.