Long Beach City College has students from different walks of life coming together to further their education for various reasons.
While many LBCC students are able to focus solely on their education, others must find a way to balance their time between school and work.
When asked by the Viking News if they were currently working, 111 out of 150 LBCC students said that they currently had a job.
That data reflects the possibility of 74 percent of students working and attending LBCC.
“The rule of thumb is for every hour that you are in class there are two hours of study time outside of class,” department head of counseling Lorraine Blouin said.
With this formula students are able to calculate the amount of time they need to dedicate to their education and the number of units they have the time for.
“If a student is working full time, 40 hours a week, we usually recommend no more than three to six units per semester,” Blouin said.
LBCC student and firefighter engineer for the city of Anaheim Rob Fry is taking a five unit spanish class not only to learn the language but for more opportunities.
His 14 year old daughter is taking the class to get high school credit.
Also, with a proficiency in the language Fry would be eligible for a pay raise.
“We work 24 hour shifts from 7 a.m. to seven the next morning and then we are off the next day, but sometimes we have to work in between the days that we would normally work, so we’ll work 72 hours straight,” said Fry.
Busy work schedules can make it hard for Fry to find time to study and prepare for exams.
“I try to study a little bit at the station, but at home I just study on my day off,” Fry said.
LBCC Sophomore Mikayla Manning is currently enrolled in 12 units and works part time at Regal Cinemas in order to “save for the future and be comfortable in [her] future financial situation.”
Manning manages her time by setting aside a couple of days out of the week to dedicate to school work.
“The only time I struggle with managing my time is when I have a long shift right before a test because it adds more stress, but I very rarely stress out over not having time to do both,” said Manning.
Though Manning typically works 20 hours each week there are times when she has to work as much as 32 hours a week.
“Our students that are most successful are the ones that do have good time management skills, and they understand the time commitment outside of work, so they try to make sure that they identify those times to study and get their work done,” Blouin said.
According to Blouin students find themselves overwhelmed when they do not understand the time commitments between work and school which may cause them to over commit.
As LBCC enters the Summer and Fall semesters the counseling department is available to advise students on the right amount of units to take for a balanced schedule.