Students rake in the dough

College students are sometimes known for the odd jobs they hold

during the summer.

From cooking fast food to construction in another country, this

past summer some CSU students sought employment to earn money, pass

the time and even to learn.

With a tough job market, some students had to latch onto any

available work.

“I made pizzas at Macaroni Grill in Fort Collins,” said Joe

Domko, a junior environmental ethics major. “It was the only place

to get a job.”

Students may anticipate returning to classes after unmemorable

summer jobs.

“I was a mailman at the [Fort Collins] post office,” said Andy

Wise, a senior political science major. “I was thinking about going

postal. It’s good money for very brainless work. School’s easier

than work.”

Other students felt they struck gold with summer jobs where work

seems more like play.

“The kids I was nannying for had a bowling alley, a hot tub and

pool, three kitchens, a trampoline, big screen TVs, foosball, ping

pong… the normal arcade stuff. It was wonderful,” said freshman

technical journalism major Emily Rogers, who worked 40 hours each

week with two children in Littleton.

Kat Boyd, a sophomore English major, simply got a run of bad

luck with a summer job involving youngsters.

“I worked at a preschool and it was so stressful. The kids were

terrible,” said Boyd, who worked 36 hours each week in Littleton.

“I told a little boy if he kept on crossing his eyes at me, he

would run into things and start bleeding.”

Jobs can sometimes be spiced up by one unordinary instance that

stands out from other seemingly uneventful days.

“I worked at Target as a cashier and helped stop a store thief

who tried to pay with a stolen check,” said freshman open option

major Jacki DeHayes-Rice, adding that she liked the people working

there but hated being told what to do.

While some students may simply dislike working in general and

only do it for the money, others may seek educational

employment.

Andy Kittelson, a doctorate student studying neuroscience,

worked 50 hours each week in a CSU biochemistry lab trying to

produce protein that occurs in human spinal cords and uncover the

protein structure.

“It’s been a learning experience in many ways,” Kittelson said.

“I worked with technicians and a professor.”

Open option junior Steve Pries chose his summer employment based

on a trip he made with his church one year ago.

“I was a missionary in Mexico this summer and built 19 houses. I

earned $200 per month for food and other expenses,” Pries said. “It

feels good to see friends but I have a different outlook after

seeing poverty like that.”