With his upbeat attitude and happy smile, you wouldn’t know that he had just worked 13 hours straight day and has another grueling day tomorrow.

Teacher assistant Dan Ratty started working for FedEx in Oct. 2014 as a part-time job. Ratty felt like he wanted to do something along with being a teaching assistant. FedEx also had better employee benefits, like a 401K.

“Someone had suggested it to me that it would be a good fit for me,” Ratty said.  

He still regards his job at Fedex to be part-time, and he is unsure how long he will continue working there. He enjoys the work he does for them but weighs the work against his time in education.

Whatever the case, he believes that he’ll need to pick one.

“I kinda like both my jobs, so I’m torn between what to do,” he said.

Ratty likes the routine his job at FedEx provides and enjoys driving.

Ratty studied Education at Rowan University where he also ran track. He started working as a teacher’s assistant in 2011. He was hired as a Teacher’s Assistant at Glen Rock three years ago. He has worked with many teachers, including English teacher Pat Mahoney. He has been a TA in her Contemporary Fiction class. She learned early on about Ratty’s second job.

“He told me that when we worked together for the first time,” Mahoney said.

Despite the fact that Ratty works a second job, he does not feel like that he is working any harder than any other teacher.

“As a TA, I’m helping out and assisting the teacher,” Ratty said. “But all the preparation, grading, and everything that the teacher has to do is a lot.”

His work day involves the seven hour school day along with the 5-6 hours he puts in at Fedex every weekday. He used to work Saturdays, but he has had to stop that shift as he plans to help coach spring track on Saturdays.

The holiday season rush period is particularly stressful. FedEx and UPS hired over 100,000 new employees just for the holiday rush, as buying gifts online has become more popular.

Ratty had to put in extra hours over the weekdays while also having to take the Saturday shift. Despite this, Ratty continues to work hard in both jobs.

“He’s always on time. He is a very, very good worker, but I know he is very tired,” Mahoney said. “But how can you not be?”