One day last summer, junior Vivian Wheland escaped the modern stresses of her daily life and traveled back through the decades to party in the 20th century. 

“We had a 50s-themed party for the residents [of Sentinel Pointe Retirement Community] in the summer,” Vivian said. “We spent all day setting up outside, and then we danced and ate with all of our favorite residents for the rest of the night. That’s definitely one of my fondest memories from working there.”

Sentinel Point was Vivian’s second of the soon-to-be three places where she has worked. Like most teenagers, Vivian’s original objective from working was to make money. 

As a teenager, especially one with a car, having a reliable source of income may not be a necessity, but it certainly isn’t a bad thing.

“I started working when I was 16,” Vivian said. “I got [my first job] about two or three months after I got my car, so I initially just needed money for gas. But then, I started working and I found that it was a huge relief to have money of my own and be more self-sufficient in that sense.”

Once Vivian started working, it was almost impossible for her to stop. While she isn’t currently working, she has had two jobs and is about to start her next one. 

Vivian’s first job was at Luna, a Mexican restaurant in Ada where she worked as a hostess and waitress. Then, she moved on to her next adventure in Sentinal Point Retirement Home. She worked there over the summer but unfortunately had to stop around the time that school started up again.

Now, Vivian is about to begin working at Clean Eats, a new job that she can’t wait to start for many reasons.

“My family-friends own [Clean Eats],” Vivian said, “so I’m really excited to try something new and have the opportunity to work with someone who I’m comfortable with. I’m big on trying new things, so I’m super excited to start my new job.”

Even though new beginnings are always exciting, looking back at some of Vivian’s favorite memories of her old workplaces can also be fun.

“I would say the retirement home was my favorite [place to work] because it was a really different crowd of people that became a community,” Vivian said. “It was also just really fun to work with older people, which is definitely a demographic that I’m not used to. I experienced a lot of new things while working there.”

Lots of teenagers have jobs, but very few love them as much, and find as much value in them, as Vivian has in her past years.

From her first jobs at Mexican restaurants all the way to dream jobs of working in the film industry, Vivian has found herself at home all throughout the community, from workplace to workplace.

“I love working because besides the obvious benefit of making money and having something to do, I’ve been able to build a family in both of my workplaces, and I’ve met tons of people that I didn’t expect to. It also keeps me busy every time I need to be for whatever reason. I’ve learned from pretty much all of my jobs that helping people is really important to me and something that I love doing as a person and as a member of our community.”