Long hours. Hard people to work with. Some teenagers decided to spend their summer slacking off, partying and sleeping their days away; but for two teenagers, that wasn’t the case. Aruna Evenson, junior, has been working as a dietary aide for Thorne Crest Retirement Home for the last six months. She spent almost every day working this summer. Her reasoning for getting the job there wasn’t just for the money, or the fact she needed a job.

“My grandma was there, and just seeing everyone work as a team I thought it would be a nice place to work,” Evenson said.

The pay, the hours, and the community with the elders may be perks of working there, but Evenson has also had difficulties.

“One resident was my all-time favorite, and one day they didn’t show up to the dining room,” she said. “I thought that was weird. I then find out that they were in the hospital, and a week later they died. I cried in my car for a long time.”

Evenson enjoys working there but for her it is hard not to get attached to the residents.

Sam Ellis, sophomore, spent his summer interning at Youth for Christ – The Rock. His friend, Jake Tyler, spurred his interest in the job.

“He came to the camp I was working at and said ‘hey, you should apply to be a summer intern!’ So I did,” Ellis said.

Ellis started working there in late-July after working on the program team for three weeks at Prairie River Camp, then following that went on a mission trip with his church. Sam lead small groups, big games, and helped take care of the drop-in center.

“It was long hours, Monday through Friday,” Ellis said. “Afterwards you had no energy. The kids were super cool, but they had no discipline.”

He worked mainly with kids from the ages of five to fourteen, some of whom grew attached to the workers. For Ellis, it was hard to remain distant.

“I knew I was going to come back sometimes when school started, but I had to watch what I said so they wouldn’t get too connected,” he said.

With Evenson and Ellis, they have accepted the fact these jobs are time consuming and personal, but they enjoy the people they work with.

“The residents melt my heart,” Evenson said.