High school workers

Paige Clark believes sleep is overrated.

On any given weekday, the Jackson High School junior wakes up at 7 a.m. for school, where she is enrolled in advanced placement and required courses.

When the final bell rings, Clark is only halfway through her day. Most weekdays you can find her working on service projects or upcoming activities for the school's Family, Career and Community Leaders of America chapter. The organization focuses on projects to benefit families in the community.

By 4 p.m., Clark heads to her job as a cashier at Target. For the past year and a half, Clark has worked at Target for about 25 hours per week.

The long hours of work are necessary for Clark. She's got to save up enough money for car and cell phone payments. Any extra money goes toward shopping.

When she gets off work at 10 p.m., Clark goes home to finish any school assignments that are due the next day. If she's lucky, she crawls in bed at 11 p.m.

"My life is very exciting but very hectic," Clark said.

Even though she doesn't have much free time, Clark enjoys her busy schedule.

Clark isn't alone with juggling school and work. According to a recent CNN.com poll, 56.9 percent of teenagers work part-time jobs while attending high school.

Alicia Howard's loaded class schedule, part-time job, soccer practices and games don't leave the Jackson High School senior much free time.

"I'm always on the run but I like it," Howard said. "On most days, I don't get home till about 9 p.m., but I like staying busy."

And "busy" is an understatement for Howard's schedule. She's enrolled in several dual credit classes through Southeast Missouri State University and works 10 to 20 hours per week at Trees 'N' Trends in Cape Girardeau, where she has worked for the past 18 months.

Howard doesn't work to pay for car insurance or cell phone payments, but uses her spending money on food and clothes.

Clark said she rarely has any free time, but when she does, she enjoys going to the park, watching movies, shopping and reading magazines. She stays organized through her daily planner and says it's "basically my best friend."

"I have learned that sleep is overrated and unnecessary," Clark said. "Sometimes you have to do what's necessary in life to enjoy a particular way you want to live."

Both Clark and Howard enjoy their busy schedules, and have found that working through high school is a way of life for most of their classmates as well.

Nicholle Hinkle is a senior at Jackson Senior High School and plans to major in mass communications/journalism at Southeast Missouri State University.