MODULE 3 LESSONS FROM THE ASSEBLY LINE
MODULE 3 LESSONS FROM THE ASSEBLY LINE
SOME LESSONS FROM THE ASSEMBLY LINE
Sweating away my summers as a factory worker makes me more than happy to hit the books.
Last June, as I stood behind the bright orange guard door of the machine, listening to the crackling hiss of the automatic welders, I thought about how different my life had been just a few weeks earlier. Then, I was writing an essay about French literature to complete my last exam of the spring semester at college. Now I stood in an automotive plant in southwest Michigan, making subassemblies for a car manufacturer.
I have worked as a temp in the factories surrounding my hometown every summer since I graduated from high school, but making the transition between school and full-time blue-collar work during the break never gets any easier. For a student like me who considers any class before noon to be uncivilized, getting to a factory by 6 o’clock each morning, where rows of hulking, spark-showering machines have replaced the lush campus and cavernous lecture halls of college life, is torture. There my time is spent stamping, cutting, welding, moving or assembling parts, the rigid work schedules and quotas of the plant making days spent studying and watching “SportsCenter” seem like a million years ago.
I chose to do this work, rather than bus tables or fold sweatshirts at the Gap, for the overtime pay and because living at home is infinitely cheaper than living on campus for the summer. My friends who take easier, part-time jobs never seem to understand why I’m so relieved to be back at school in the fall or that my summer vacation has been anything but a vacation.
There are few things as cocksure as a college student who has never been out in the real world, and people my age always seem to overestimate the value of their time and knowledge. After a particularly exhausting string of 12-hour days at a plastics factory, I remember being shocked at how small my check seemed. I couldn’t believe how little I was taking home after all the hours I spent on the sweltering production floor. And all the classes in the world could not have prepared me for my battles with the machine I ran in the plant, which would jam whenever I absent-mindedly put in a part backward or upside down.
As frustrating as the work can be, the most stressful thing about blue-collar life is knowing your job could disappear overnight. Issues like downsizing and overseas relocation had always seemed distant to me until my co-workers at one factory told me that the unit I was working in would be shut down within six months and moved to Mexico, where people would work for 60 cents an hour.
Factory life has shown me what my future might have been like had I never gone to college in the first place. For me, and probably many of my fellow students, higher education always seemed like a foregone conclusion: I never questioned if I was going to college, just where. No other options ever occurred to me.
After working 12-hour shifts in a factory, the other options have become brutally clear. When I’m back at the university, skipping classes and turning in lazy re-writes seems like a cop-out after seeing what I would be doing without school. All the advice and public-service announcements about the value of an education that used to sound trite now ring true.
These lessons I am learning, however valuable, are always tinged with a sense of guilt. Many people pass their lives in the places I briefly work, spending 30 years where I spend only two months at a time. When fall comes around, I get to go back to a sunny and beautiful campus, while work in the factories continues. At times I feel almost voyeuristic, like a tourist dropping in where other people make their livelihoods. My lessons about education are learned at the expense of those who weren’t fortunate enough to receive one. “This job pays well, but it’s hell on the body,” said one co-worker. “Study hard and keep reading,” she added, nodding at the copy of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” I had wedged into the space next to my machine so I could read discreetly when the line went down.
My experiences will stay with me long after I head back to school and spend my wages on books and beer. The things that factory work has taught me–how lucky I am to get an education, how to work hard, how easy it is to lose that work once you have it–are by no means earth-shattering. Everyone has to come to grips with them at some point. How and when I learned these lessons, however, has inspired me to make the most of my college years before I enter the real world for good. Until then, the summer months I spend in the factories will be long, tiring and every bit as educational as a French-lit class.
PHOTO (COLOR): Is that all? After an exhausting string of 12-hour days, I remember being shocked at how small my check seemed
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By AB
Each response should be one fully developed paragraph in length (5-8 sentences). Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
- What is the author’s claim in the selected reading? In other words, what do you believe the author wants their audience to learn or understand better once they’ve finished reading?
- Have you identified new key points that the author uses to support their claim in the selected reading? If so, include them here. If not, restate the key points you uncovered in your Writing Notes assignment and explain why the key points from your Writing Notes have remained the same, even after conducting an active reading of the article.
- Describe the author’s target audience: what group or groups of people is the author trying to reach with their message?
- What choices does the author make within their writing to connect with this target audience?
- Explain your evaluation of the author’s claim: is the claim strong or weak? What evidence or key points from the writing best support the author’s claim? If you found the claim to be weak, explain why the evidence or key points provided did not effectively support the author’s claim.
Guidelines for Submission: Save your work in a Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Then, check your writing for errors. Once you have proofread your document, submit it via the Module 3, 3-2 Writing Plan assignment link in Brightspace.MODULE 3 LESSONS FROM THE ASSEBLY LINE
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Sweating away my summers as a factory worker makes me more than happy to hit the books.
Introduction
I’ve been working as a factory worker for the past five summers. It’s not always easy, but it is rewarding and provides me with some of the best memories of my life. Here are six reasons why I love working in factories:
I love working in factories.
I love working in factories. It’s a good job, and it pays well. You learn a lot about yourself and your capabilities in a short period of time–and you can have an amazing summer job if you’re willing to work hard!
It’s the best job in the world.
If you’re a college student, think of your summer break as an opportunity to travel the world and learn about yourself. And if you’re not, but still want to make some money while doing what you love? Well then I have good news: there’s an app for that!
The best part about working in factories is being able to see the world while making money. You get to meet new people too–people who work in factories themselves! It’s like a secret club where everyone knows each other by name and they all share the same passion for making things that keep us alive (or at least our families alive). Plus it’s not just limited just to me either; my coworkers are always trying out new ways of using their skillsets so they can better themselves as well as others around them.”
It’s hard work, but it pays well.
As a factory worker, you get paid well for the work you do. And don’t worry: your coworkers are friendly and fun to be around. They introduce you to new people who are also working at the factory, which makes it easy for you to make friends with them all over again when summer comes around again next year.
You learn about yourself as well! It’s not just about learning how machines work; it’s also about learning what kind of person has these skills and can use them in an effective manner within society–which is something that everyone should strive towards doing every day (even though there will always be those who have different ideas).
You learn a lot about yourself and your capabilities in a short period of time.
You learn a lot about yourself and your capabilities in a short period of time. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but it’s also good to know that there is no such thing as failure here because you have to make sure everything goes smoothly or your job will be done by someone else when you’re not there. You learn how to work with people and machines, which helps with future jobs after this one ends. You also learn how they treat their employees well–they expect us all do our best every day! If we don’t meet deadlines or complete tasks correctly on time, they’ll let us know right away so we can fix things right away instead of waiting until later when all our hard work could have been lost forever (which happens sometimes).
You might think that factory life sounds like hell because it does involve lots of hard labor at times but don’t worry: there are perks too! For example:
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You get paid every two weeks which means if we miss our deadline by just one day then we won’t get paid for two weeks’ worth of work; so even though some days may seem long compared with others due simply because there isn’t much downtime between shifts (like walking from one place inside another building), overall though those same days will probably feel shorter than average because nothing holds up progress too long unless something else delays progress even further…
You can have a great summer job if you’re willing to work hard!
You can have a great summer job if you’re willing to work hard!
If you’re going to be successful in your career, it’s essential that you put in the hours. You need to be willing to put in the effort and learn new things–but most importantly, you need to make sure that the job is worth your time. If the work isn’t challenging or interesting enough for someone like you then there’s no point in doing it at all.
You should also consider whether or not this particular company offers benefits such as health insurance or vacation pay (which can help offset some of those expenses). You might want something like an electric car charging station at home so that when they say “It feels good working here” they mean “Your electric bill is low because we give out free cars!”
Conclusion
I love working in factories. It’s the best job in the world. It’s hard work, but it pays well. You learn a lot about yourself and your capabilities in a short period of time. You can have a great summer job if you’re willing to work hard!
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