Labor Day of a “Latchkey Kid”
Ashley Stewart, 21, a student worker at Cohen’s Fashion Optical in Forest Hills, works on Labor Day because her store is short-staffed.
Stewart comes from a single family in which her mother works at the emergency room and seldom takes a day off on holidays. She gets the job from an acceleration program which help students who had a hard time finding jobs. Stewart says she shares the same dedication to work as her mother does. She is on financial aid, which covers half of her tuition. And she works hard to cover the rest half.
Stewart says it is not hard to maintain a work-life balance. She takes classes from eight to ten for two to four days out of the week. Then she goes to work from 10 to 7:30 Mondays to Saturdays, and 12 to 6 on Sundays. After work, Stewart usually goes home and helps her mother around the house. She is majoring in criminal justice at Laguardia Community College, and wants to become a defense attorney.
Stewart says she never really saw herself being in the medical field, but she just always keeps coming back to this one job. She thinks she is getting better about helping people with equipment and optical checks. So she is now making choices and considering to pursue a career as a future optician.
