By Karin Hahn and Donahi Soriano
It’s Nordhoff homecoming night.
People are piling into the charming little ice cream shop, as customers shout out order after order, and children drool at the sight of rainbow sprinkles and gummy worms.
At the center of all this craze, OVS junior Harley Wachter stood her ground, working alone, tackling customers one scoop at a time.
“People were getting irritated, but then once they found out that it was only me they became really nice and would tip a lot of money so at the end of the night I ended up making like $200 in tips,” Harley said. “I think it was worth it”
While it’s not unusual for high school students to work, it is a bit out of the ordinary for OVS students to do so. The jam-packed school schedule that starts at 8:10 am, coupled with mandatory sports participation, results in students not typically punching out until after 5.
But Harley is one of a handful who heads to work after school and on the weekends, despite the busy school schedule.
Senior Ben Manning now works alongside Harley at Ojai Ice Cream, after working at fellow gelato store Sanders and Sons for two years.
Sibling senior duo, Elizabeth and Will Ramsay often work shifts at their family’s Chinese restaurant, AJ’s Chinese Express. Similarly, senior Karin Hahn also works at their family-owned business, Hakane Sushi.
Senior Mariana Thacher is nearing one year of working at Little Sama, while senior Alula Alderson just completed her second week working at Farmer and the Cook.
And down the street from Ojai Ice Cream where Harley works, stands their rival shop, Bliss, where junior Andrew Little serves, what he believes, is the best frozen treat in town.
Like for many students who grew up in Ojai, Bliss is a place of fond childhood memories for Andrew. Except now, instead of drooling over fro-yo flavors and complementing topping choices, Andrew stands behind the counter, topping off customer’s fro-yo’s like he once had done by others.
“Back when I was a kid, like really, really young, I went there a bunch and I knew [the manager]…,” Andrew said. “I’ve been around Bliss for quite a bit.”
His tasks include making and serving fro-yo to customers, as well as refilling toppings and the fro-yo machines themselves. This is Andrew’s first official job, so the transition between his prior lawn-mowing gig and serving customers was not all smooth sailing.
“It was honestly really stressful at first because when I got there, I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said. “And when a bunch of customers came in I had to deal with like everything going on at once. When you first start working then it’s really overwhelming for a little bit because there’s just so much going on. But now it’s way easier to talk to people who I don’t know.
The work environment for Harley and Andrew is different compared to Mariana Thacher and Karin Hahn, who both work at full-service dine-in restaurants in Ojai.
Mariana works as the front-of-house at Little Sama, a Southeast Asian fusion restaurant where both of her older brothers once worked. For Mariana, balancing work, academics, and social life is easy.
“I get my homework done,” she said. “ And I can still hang out with friends before and after work.”
A little further down Ojai Avenue stands Hakane Sushi, a restaurant that Karin’s family has owned for what is now the tenth year. For Karin, there was no set moment when she chose to step into her working shoes.
Instead, she has consistently been helping the business for the past few years, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was always around the restaurant—I practically grew up there,” she recalls. “But I especially started working there and playing a bigger role in running the restaurant during COVID-19, when my parents had to lay off a lot of the employees.”
For Karin, this meant taking over managerial roles and navigating an unfamiliar business strategy solely depending on take-out orders.
“We had to shut down our dine-in services which wasn’t ideal, but we also had a lot of customers that were very supportive and ordered take-out regularly,” Karin said.
As the COVID-19 restrictions eased up, so did the work environment for Karin.
“Work is definitely a lot more enjoyable now,” she said. “I’ve gotten to know so many customers of all different ages with such different stories.”
The same is true for Harley Wachter, who puts in 10-15 hours a week, balancing her school obligations with her work hours and commitments to dance class. With every scoop comes a different story, every topping a different tale. For Harley, ice cream is a form of customer connection—so she keeps on scooping.
Why does she do it?
“I feel like it’s teaching me how to save while also teaching me people skills for later on in life,” Harley said.