By Jordan Bickham
Staff Writer

Cars fill all the spaces in the school’s parking lot.  The cars range from older, used cars to brand new, top-of-the-line vehicles.

Just like the wide variety of car types, the way students obtained their cars also varies quite a bit.  Some students had their car handed to them while others worked overtime to achieve their car.

With AP classes and extra curricular activities, working a job on top of everything can make life a lot more difficult to manage.  Simply having a job to pay for small luxuries can be hard to balance with school.  To make the situation more difficult, students working for expensive items have to aim high, resulting in long hours and little extra time.

Even with good time management skills, students working constantly along with school and other activities can easily reach the breaking point when it comes to not having time.

One popular, expensive item many Coppell students work for is a car.  Having a quick and easy method of transportation helps students not only get to school, but also to easily go to tutoring sessions and extra curricular activities. A car is one of the most valuable items a student can own.

How the student obtains the car is another story.  While working can teach students lessons for the future, with such a large goal, students can find themselves working long hours instead of doing schoolwork or other important activities.

Although getting a car can make a student’s life a whole lot easier, not working to obtain a car can make their life just as easy.  Constantly working to obtain expensive luxuries such as a car can lead to dropping grades, lack of sleep and difficulties in simply getting through the day.

On top of that, simply obtaining a job can be one of the most difficult parts of the process.  This year, the percentage of high school students with a part-time jobs is at the lowest it has been in over 20 years according to the National Center for Education Statistics.  The center also found that the number of students holding a part-time job is only at 16 percent in comparison to 32 percent in 1990.

With the economy just pulling out of the recent recession, adults are going back to work and are taking jobs that are typical for high school students.  Students have a more difficult time finding well-paying, part-time jobs when college graduates and more experienced adults are competing with them for the same opportunity.

The lack of open spots for students in the part-time job market results in students working smaller jobs that pay even less.  This causes many of them to work longer, more strenuous hours than they normally would with an average high school student, part time job.

While students can learn valuable life skills such as dedication and the value of hard work by working to buy a car, students should remember to not prioritize gaining a car over more vital things.  Even though a car can be helpful, there are many more important things students should be focusing on over working for a car.