The Work-A-Holic Mindset

Polson High School senior Olivia Clairmont’s biggest regret is not immersing herself into school extracurriculars. She wishes that she wasn’t so afraid to get involved in the school as an underclassman. She explains, “I wish I was more involved, and I wish I talked to more people.” But her lack of extracurriculars doesn’t mean she wasn’t busy during her high school career. She worked three jobs to save up for college. 

Clairmont has vast experience in the customer service industry from working in a movie theater to restaurants. Her jobs have given her the chance to branch out and learn leadership skills that she wouldn’t learn otherwise. Her favorite job so far has been working at the local McDonald’s because “there are more opportunities to grow there,” she said. For example, recently she was given a promotion to Crew Trainer. This job entails helping new employees learn the basics of the job and keeping things in the kitchen organized, as well as a pay raise. 

Working during school can be extremely stressful on students, but Clairmont finds that having a set schedule and planner helps her keep her life organized. She acknowledges that she’s “a solitary person” who thrives on having her “free time to either catch up on sleep, watch a movie, or read” and decompress from the stress at work and school. 

Clairmont will be attending Montana State University in Bozeman starting fall 2025, studying to become an anesthesiologist. The medical industry has always been something she’s been interested in. Anesthesiology is “an integral part of the medical field” and regardless of the long schooling one has to go through, it can help many people, said Clairmont. Always one to look at every option, her plan B is to become a physical therapist in sports medicine. She wants to ensure that she is financially supported in her future to be comfortable when she’s older, and a job in the healthcare industry can help with that. One of Clairmont’s favorite teachers, Joe Quinn, has helped her see that the medical industry is a real possibility for her in the future. She loves that he doesn’t make his class “too serious, he just makes a comfortable [learning] environment,” she said. Clairmont is happy she got to have him as a teacher, but is ready to move on to the bigger adult world.