softgabby
Gear Empress
I didn't get my first part time job till college but I also didn't get my license until I was 18 and didn't have some of the expenses some kids (not sure about you) have these days e.g. cell phone bills, etc. I did have a GF my junior and senior year, but she was pretty low maintenance. I worked hard at both baseball and school my Senior year, took my class ranking from 30 out of 700 kids to 11th by getting A+ in all of my courses ( I didn't put too much time into my courses before that....) and had a decent year in baseball ( I was still recovering from an ACL tear my Junior year). The hard work I put in my Senior year towards school and baseball helped me in both college academics
and college baseball imo.
Here is what I would say. If you think you able to maintain your grades while taking the most difficult courses you can your senior year (don't coast!!) and put the proper amount of time into an activity which you will only play for a small amount of time more (4 years if you are going to play college) and still pick up some part time shifts, then do it if you need the money. However if you find it too much to handle and your school or sports activities are suffering, I would probably quit the job. You are going to be working the rest of your life...
That said my wife played 2 sports in HS (track and volleyball) and always had a part time job and she is the one who manages the money in our family (pays the bills etc) so perhaps I don't know what I am talking about
I do have some expenses that my parents pay for (my cell phone, braces, car and health insureance, my participation costs and a few other things). I'm currently third in my class and I think something like half a point separates me from being first in my class (we have 300 in my class).
I think I can maintain my grades along with participate in sports and work . I'm not going to coast for my senior year as I'm doing the same thing this year as I did my Junior year and take as many AP courses as I can (I think I have a few non AP courses as I'm taking some metal working classes and I'm taking some computer related courses)