Many students get jobs in high school. However, some students have to sacrifice sports in order to focus on their jobs or the other way around. Eric Fenton chose to balance the two because of his passion for both.
“I like to swim so I took a job that related to that,” Fenton said. “Also, I want to make money.”
Fenton works at Pattonville high school two nights a week teaching kids how to swim through Parkway Swim Club’s swim school. He doesn’t feel that this is too demanding. However, considering the fact that he swims another four times a week with Parkway Swim Club’s competitive swim team, he spends a lot of time in the water. Fifteen to eighteen hours a week to be exact.
“I love to be in the water,” Fenton said. “It’s very enjoyable.”
Fenton takes value in having a job that he is passionate about and being in the water is his passion. Although he may enjoy both work and his sport, Fenton still wishes he could focus on his swimming more.
“Work takes away from swimming because I am missing two practices a week,” Fenton said.
He may not like how he can’t put more of his time into swimming, but he continues to work hard. Fenton is gaining much more from his two commitments than money and swimming skills. He is learning some valuable lessons along the way.
“It’s stressful not being able to fully commit to one or the other, but its teaching me how to handle stress and greater workloads,” Fenton said.