Michael O’Gradney, or better known by most as ” Mikey,” is a senior this year at Sunlake High School. During his time at Sunlake, Mikey said, “My time at Sunlake has been a very good experience. I have met some incredible people and have found and kept lifelong friendships.” We are just a few weeks away from the start of the year, and for many, their very last year of high school. Mikey, being one of those people, had lots to think about over the summer with school, but he also had his job that he had to attend to over the summer. Mikey works at Flying Squirrel Trampoline Park in Lutz. He plays many roles at his job and is seen by employees and managers as a true top employee. Mikey said that the work this summer was a lot. “It was fun at times, and at times it was brutal. It gave me an income so I can have fun with my friends, but it also took up a lot of time. So it affected my summer in those aspects.” Overall, since starting his job all the way in the fall of 2024, Mikey has grown to meet lots of other great people. He reflected on his time there since he started and said, “My time at Flying Squirrel has been such a great one. I have met so many fun and cool people, and it also made me better at managing my money and time.” As summer comes to and Mikey will be geared more towards school and focus more on that than work. Now there are challenges that come with balancing school life and work life, but most seem to balance it perfectly, like Mikey. This year has had a lot for Mikey to think about: should he do all 6 periods or do OJT to help give more hours at work and allow him to leave a bit earlier? It’s a lot to manage for him, but this is what he said about how he will manage. ” I have OJT for my last two periods, so that will give me a lot of free time to go to work and school. Also, I will do my best to have a schedule and get my work done on time, which I did well at last year.”