Hello wisened veterans of life, I would like to hear some more of your opinions on this matter I have come across. This fall I will be a Freshman in college, and haven't really decided if I will be getting a job or not during the school year. I'm planning on seeing if I make the basketball team first, and if I don't, seeing if I think I can handle working while attending college. That's not really what I'm asking about, but feel free to chip in advice there too. I talked to my cousin tonight and he wants me to move to a certain city about 2 hours away from my home next summer and work for a business that he's starting that paints the exterior of houses. He's got experience running such an operation, as he did it 2 years ago but decided he didn't want to deal with it this summer because he was starting a new job. Next summer though, he wants to run this painting business on the side and employ 5 people to paint houses. Knowing I will be a college kid who could use a crummy job, he offered me a spot on his crew, and said he'll let me stay with him free of charge during the week. He said that they way he ran it 2 years ago was that he'd set up 1 or 2 jobs a week, and you basically work 8 hours a day until you finish the jobs for the week, then you get the rest of the week off. I was told that 5 day weekends aren't too uncommon and if we finish that fast we get a pu bonus to make up for not working as many hours. Minimum pay is $15 an hour. He said the hours are really flexible too because even if a couple of guys miss a day or two you can still usually finish the jobs before the week is done. This would be key if I did make the basketball team, as there are summer workouts and tournaments I'd have to go to. Basically, if this was a job in my hometown I'd probably say yes automatically. I definitely wouldn't want to paint houses for a career, but $15 an hour for a summer job is pretty darn good pay. However, I'm a little on the fence about it because I'd basically be stuck in the city all week and would only be able to come home on weekends, as home is 2 hours away. This concerns me because I feel like my free time would be super limited to doing not a whole lot on weeknights, as I'll be living in a city where I don't know anyone and I don't really want to make my cousin feel like he has to take care of me and make plans involving me all the time. I'm sure my opportunities to meet new people friends wouldn't be great either as I'll only I've 4 co-workers. Basically, I'm concerned that I'll be spending my entire free time playing video games with nothing else to do. Also, I grew up in the middle of nowhere and I'd be living in one of the biggest cities in the state which would be quite a culture shock I'd imagine. However, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to find such a good paying job with the flexible hours any closer to home, and I feel like sort of being on my own in a bigger city might be a good learning experience for me.
Sorry for the huge wall of text and rambling, but writing helps me clear my mind so I can sleep.
Of you guys don't want to read this or don't care that's fine, but I'd appreciate any honest 2 cents.
