Jobs that change the lives of teens

By Roxanne Taylor & Sabrina Xavier  |  July 8, 2009

This summer, more than 600 Boston teenagers will get paying jobs, and attend weekly life-skills workshops, through the MLK Summer Scholars program, sponsored by John Hancock Financial, The Boston Globe and Boston University, with major support from Partners HealthCare.

One of the main goals of the program is to provide Boston high school students the critical work experience they will need in a competitive job market.

Two MLK Summer Scholars from last year reflected on their jobs.

AS A teenager looking back at all the things I have accomplished since last year, I can say that working at The Boston Globe was the most meaningful.

I was unsure of how I should approach my first job, of how to conduct myself in the workplace. But I was able to acquire the necessary skills from the Summer Scholars workshops held at Boston University: learning about the proper clothes to wear - dressing the part meant dressing for success - carrying yourself with the right body language, and having a strong work ethic. And no cellphones on the job!

Because it was my first job, the one thing I knew that I could look forward to was the pay.

For once I had money without my parents having to give me any.

Through Summer Scholars, I learned how to invest in long-term goals - saving for college - instead of blowing money on weekly trips to the movies.

Thinking back to last summer and heading into another year of working at The Boston Globe, I can’t imagine spending my summer otherwise. I know that without this summer program I might become more aware of my responsibilities around the house - such as taking out the garbage and cleaning my room - but not the responsibilities that come with having a job.

More than just an entry on my resume, more than just entering data into spreadsheets, working at the Globe meant I was entrusted with the responsibilities of getting to work on time, listening carefully to the demands of my boss and dealing with being a high school student in a busy newspaper environment.

Roxanne Taylor, 17, lives in Hyde Park and will be a senior at the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science. She will be working again this summer at The Boston Globe.

BEING A Summer Scholar working at John Hancock last year was different from previous jobs that I had, such as bagging groceries. The job at John Hancock changed the person I was and how I viewed life as a working young adult.

Coming to work in a prestigious building was new for me. I had to dress professionally, wearing skirts instead of jeans, and figure out how to walk in heels, not sneakers. I had to learn how to communicate without using street slang, saying “because’’ instead of “cuz,’’ for example. I picked up these techniques during the life-skills workshops at Boston University, where you learned everything from how to do an interview - arrive five minutes early! - to how to budget your money. I had to make a daily decision on how to save money and still maintain a healthy diet. So I started eating salads instead of burgers.

I remember that when I first walked into the building, I immediately felt inferior to all around me. I feared that I was going to be judged on my age and lack of experience. Everyone else there knew the game of the business, but I did not.

However, as I got closer to my colleagues I knew that I had wrongly judged them.

Having a paid job made me less dependent on my family and more dependent on myself. The Scholars program gave me an opportunity to spend my summer doing something productive - instead of staying home and watching TV. Without this job I wouldn’t know where I would be today. I do know that I wouldn’t be at John Hancock, filing papers, organizing folders, and preparing myself for college.

Sabrina Xavier is 17 and lives in Brighton. She will be a senior at Brighton High School and is returning to work at John Hancock this summer.