Claire Ortiz is an incoming junior who has been running cross country and track for the last two years. Running is one of her hobbies, along with singing and playing the ukulele.

Although she really enjoys running and hopes to continue running after high school, she needed something to do in the meantime to make money.

Over the summer, Ortiz decided to get a job at A Beautiful Day, in downtown Ventura, so she can work when she’s not at practice.

A Beautiful Day is a full service florist and a gift and home shop. “I wanted to get a summer job to save up for a car in the future, and also to get some extra spending money,” Ortiz said.

At A Beautiful Day, Ortiz works a cashier, and helps set up the displays and clean up around the shop. She typically works three to four days a week, each shift being about four hours long.

Ortiz described working at A Beautiful Day as a “great learning experience and and a very mellow job.”

Ortiz hopes to be able to manage both work and cross country during the school year.

“[Although] managing both cross country and my job can get challenging at times,” she said, “my boss is pretty lenient with my schedule which allows it to be easier to do both.”

Photo By: Hailey Cox