Card games, messy rooms and kids laughing aren’t a rare sight for sophomore Avie Lin as she babysits for her part-time job. Not only does Lin get extra cash for extracurriculars and educational needs by babysitting, but she also fosters her adoration for children.

A day of babysitting for Lin consists of reading to children, entertaining and feeding them and eventually putting them to sleep. Lots of dedication is put into her part-time job, but Lin enjoys her time with the children she watches. 

“It took a lot on my first babysitting job. I had to babysit four kids, one of which was a baby. And it was kind of hard to be able to make sure the baby was still sleeping, the youngest was winning the card game, the middle was not getting into trouble and the oldest wasn’t waking up the baby. It was kind of scary for a first job, it was crazy,” Lin said. “[But] I really love [babysitting] little kids, so it’s a fun way for me to earn money because I get to play with them and feed them and then I get paid,” Lin said.

During her five years of babysitting, Lin has learned many lessons and life skills such as responsibility, time management and keeping a calm composure while looking out for others. 

“You get experience [from part-time jobs], for me it was experiencing patience. I used to babysit this little girl and typically I’d come over and I had to comfort her when her parents left then take care of her,” Lin said.

Working a part-time job and being a student has proven difficult for Lin, who tries her best to balance priorities.

“School always comes first, so if I have a test or I need to study, typically I won’t be able to babysit,” Lin said. “But usually that doesn’t happen because I babysit on weekends.”

Babysitting and other jobs allow students to explore different interests and can give insight on what they want to be when they’re older. Lin’s job helped her realize that she wants to work with kids in the future.     

“[Part-time jobs] help you learn a bit more about yourself too. In babysitting kids, I learned that I really love little kids, and it helped me to find what I want to be when I get older,” Lin said. “I want to be a pediatric surgeon because I want to help little kids.”