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Summer jobs in East Lansing: a way to save up cash, get ahead on graduation

While many students part from East Lansing during the summer to get a well-deserved rest, some students not able to leave because of classes, leases and other obligations find summer a good way to bolster the bank account while getting ahead on graduation

May 27, 2015
<p>Packaging sophomore McKenna Nuttall works on the computer May 22 as part of the Welcome Center for the MSU Union. Wyatt Giangrande/The State News</p>

Packaging sophomore McKenna Nuttall works on the computer May 22 as part of the Welcome Center for the MSU Union. Wyatt Giangrande/The State News

Photo by Wyatt Giangrande | The State News

However, these activities aren’t free and money can be an issue. Many students who stay in East Lansing for the summer work various summer jobs to support themselves.

Opportunities

For some students, staying in East Lansing presents opportunities they might have missed, had they returned home for the summer. 

“I found a pretty cheap place to live off campus and didn’t have a job to go home to, so I realized that I could make more money up here,” packaging junior and MSU Union Welcome Desk receptionist McKenna Nuttall said. “I’m working and taking a couple of summer classes so I can get ahead and graduate on time.”

Nuttall works the desk Tuesdays and Thursdays while also nannying Monday, Wednesday and Friday. When things aren’t busy working the welcome desk, Nuttall uses the time to focus on homework from the online class she is taking this summer.

Like Nuttall, music senior and Starbucks barista Aaron Meyer has an apartment for the summer.

“I have an apartment and the lease lasts through the summer, so why pay rent on a place that I’m not going to live in?” Meyer said. “I thought I might as well stay here. I’m a musician and a music student here and I’ve got some gigs in the Lansing area, so it was worth it to stick around.”

There is also the reality that, for some, after the bustle and excitement of living in East Lansing, returning home just results in boredom and complacency.

Applied engineering junior and cashier at the Spartan Spirit Shop in the MSU Union Michelle Miotto didn’t want to face the boredom of returning home.

“I got a job, I’m taking some classes, it’s kind of boring in my hometown and I already had an apartment,” Miotto said. “So I thought, ‘why not?’ East Lansing is beautiful over the summer.”

Miotto was destined to work at the Spartan Spirit Shop, as she has had multiple family members employed by the store before she came to MSU.

“My older brother and a few of my cousins also used to work here, so it’s kind of a family thing almost,” Miotto said. “Maybe if my kids go here they will work at the same place, you never know.”

Miotto’s cousin actually met her future husband while the two worked at the Spartan Spirit Shop together.

“My cousin, Charlotte McLaren, got married to someone she met working in the shop,” Miotto said. “They worked in the store together for a few years. They both graduated from here and got married a few years ago, now they have a kid, so they’re a little Spartan family that started at the Spartan Spirit Shop.”

Future Employment

Some summer jobs set up future opportunities and others come from previous opportunities. Lansing Community College psychology sophomore and cashier at Leo’s Coney Island Kayla Breckenridge found herself in a familiar place working at a Coney Island.

“One of my first jobs was working at a Leo’s Coney Island — I already had experience,” Breckenridge said. “My boyfriend and I came in here randomly and we got some food and I realized I could get a job here.”

Meyer wanted to work at Starbucks because of the ability to find work at other locations when he is no longer in East Lansing.

“I wanted to work at Starbucks because it’s very easy to transfer,” he said. “If I move somewhere in the country, I’m pretty much guaranteed a job because it’s really easy to shift positions.”

Meyer knows getting his foot in the door of the music business will take time, so stable employment is a necessity.

“I don’t really plan on staying in Michigan after college,” Meyer said. “So wherever I go, while I’m trying to get started up on the music scene, ... Starbucks will be a pretty stable job and I know I’ll have employment so that I can pay bills.”

Fun, Experience and Expenses

One of the experiences that comes with working a summer job in East Lansing is personal growth. Nuttall is getting much-needed experience as to what living off campus and being independent from the meal plan entails.

“I was on campus last semester, so I’m just now going from having a meal plan to grocery shopping for myself,” Nuttall said. 

Miotto said her job will serve as experience working with people from all walks of life, as she recently had to interact with several international visitors that were at MSU for the Odyssey of the Mind 2015 World Finals.

“Working with customers, gaining experience with different people and working as a part of a team” are some of the things she can take away from the job, Miotto said.

Saving money also comes into play for many students. Breckenridge has a few expenses she has begun saving for.

“My car is in Arizona, so I have to pay to either fly down there and drive it back up here or have it towed up here,” Breckenridge said. “My grandmother recently moved to Arizona and it was originally her car.”

She is also attempting to save up money for spring break next year, all while paying off credit card debt. 

“My grandmother gave a 19-year-old a credit card, so I ran it up,” Breckenridge said with a laugh. “I have to pay her back.”

For human biology junior and server at Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub, Kayla Fister, going to work is actually fun.

“We have an awesome staff,” Fister said. “We’re all really good friends here so it’s always fun to come into work.”

Fister applied at Harper’s for the experience of working in a bar atmosphere in East Lansing.

“I really wanted to get into working in the bar atmosphere in East Lansing just to see what it is like, and I knew it would be helpful using the skills that I gained here later in my career,” Fister said.

The human biology junior aspires to be a doctor and she said her time at Harper’s will assist in adjusting to life in a hospital.

“I want to be doctor, so I would be working in a very fast-paced environment where you always have to be on your toes and ready to adapt at any time,” Fister said. “It’s similar here. Even though it’s a restaurant and not a hospital, we’re one of the most popular bars in East Lansing so we’re usually really packed.

“You always have to be on your toes making sure things are running smoothly, everybody has drinks and that your customer is satisfied, so it’s a really fast-paced environment here as well.”

Working in East Lansing over the summer is different from the school year, but, to many, the experience is invaluable

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