Vanessa Rios is currently a cashier at Avalanche Frozen Yogurt, but she spent the summer working there and at Monsoon Burgers as well. Her manager owned both stores so her schedule was easy to switch as necessary. She really likes her boss as he is really laid back and easy to talk to for schedule changes. She earns $10 an hour and currently works about 18 hours a week.

Now, with the school year in session, she has cut back. When she goes to work, she doesn’t have to remember what to wear or where to go. She puts on her Avalanche shirt and closed-toed shoes as she spends the afternoons and evenings filling yogurt orders, running the cash register and dealing with customers. The job is a good fit and she plans to work there until she goes to college.

She doesn’t intend to stop working when she goes to college because she wants to keep making money, just somewhere closer to school. Making money is important because she is saving for a car and also because, as she said, she likes buying a lot of things with her own money.

At Monsoon Burgers she got to work with one more person, the cook, but in Avalanche she is the only employee and she really likes that. She enjoys working by herself. Sometimes the work gets hectic when there are a lot of customers and that can get tiring. In addition to work, Rios finds time to cheer with the Armijo cheer squad and she also enjoys doing make-up. When she is at school, her favorite class is probably English.

Rios believes that she is a good employee because she is really good at getting things done. She also is never late to work and always tries hard. “I really think that getting your job younger, as soon as you get your permit,” is a good idea. “You should get a job even if you really do not need the money,” she said. “I believe that everyone should work at least once or twice a week because, if you go to college and graduate and have no work experience or background, it looks bad. Also working at a young age makes you appreciate things more and build a character.”