Dear Editor:
I appreciated reading the article Working Students Share Their Experiences Having Jobs While Attending College one of the statements that resonated with me the most was that “…most students find themselves overwhelmed when they do not understand the time commitments between work and school, which may cause them to over commit.”
I believe this to be true, as there are many students that just don’t understand how important it is to commit your time to your education more than your job. I was one of them.
When first entering college, I had no indication on how to balance both lives. No one in my family had a blueprint for the life of an 18-year-old in the world. No one had ever gone to college, let alone, had lived their whole lives in the United States. I was the first one to take a crack at it.
But they were insistent on one thing, I needed to work, and work a lot, I obliged; I’d go to school, while also working like a madman, this resulted in getting nothing done in-between, needless to say my grades suffered greatly.
My family thought I was overexaggerating when I would express how frustrating it is to have such a tight schedule, to have no time for school or even myself. They had no idea how to empathize with me on how challenging college can be; all the while trying to figure out how to navigate through a new independent life.
As time had passed and my GPA started to take major dips, I finally had to “drop out” I took this time, as time to, well, just work more -I guess?
Eventually, I really had to sit back to reflect on my life and how I want to proceed with it. I had to decide what is important to me and what can I do to ensure I put myself in the best possible situation to success, because- frankly- I wasn’t too happy just working to work. I wanted my own life and a career.
I came to the obvious conclusion; It wasn’t that I needed to work hours- I don’t need the grand illusion of MORE money- I needed more school, school is the priority. I need to resume my education and fix the errors of my past.
I had to learn how to budget myself, find way to set boundaries between school and work schedules then found a job that would work with me on the schedule that, I believed, best fits MY needs. And have seen significant success in my academics ever since then.
One major issue that unsettles me since I’ve been back; is I’ve noticed how a lot of students let their jobs dictate their schedule.
Talking to various peers I’ve heard the same variation of this saying often:
“My job keeps scheduling me during school hours, it’s annoying I told them I have school, but they never listen, so sometimes I leave class early or don’t come.”
No offense to anyone but one of these particular conflicts was for Target. TARGET!? I love Target, and bless everyone that works there, I have no ill will towards you. But Target is not worth adding extra stress to your education. Target should not be able to take over your life schedule.
College is a whole new game, with stresses reaching new record levels with every passing week; the hours needed to properly study, effort it takes to complete an assignment, the amount of work it takes to be a full-time student can be daunting, especially in the last third of the semester. The last thing any student needs is an outside source telling them they can’t go to class, just because they “forgot” the agreement on their end, that’s insulting.
In other words: Your job should not add stress to your educational career, it should be a whole separate entity never interfering with one another.
I implore all students who have jobs, or will be looking for jobs, prior to getting hired, to make sure your employer understands your priorities and has agreed to work with your school schedule, so it NEVER interferes. Repeat this conversation again before any changes in your schedule before the new semester. Take initiative of your time.
I would argue it is best to take whole days off that can be dedicated to your class assignments for the week. I personally am off every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and it allows me to get the bulk of my work done before the weekend comes where, yes, I work all weekend.
The response I hear the most to my schedule
“Doesn’t that suck to work every weekend?”
Yes, yes it does really suck to work most every weekend (bonus! my boss respects “my time off requests” more now!), but my priorities are in place. And yes, I’m broke all the time, yet, I’m no poorer today than when I was working more. I live comfortably within my means and survive day to day just like any other student who’s in this journey. We’re all in this together.
So next time you fill out a schedule sheet on an application, or need to re-fill one out, please think critically about your time. And if the job doesn’t want to work with you, please find another job, as your REAL job, that will lead to your REAL CAREER, is here at Long Beach City College.
Build your own life schedule that allows you to have the money you can budget with, along with the time you need to be successful in college.
Money comes and goes. Your education will stick with you forever. Choose wisely my friends.
Best wishes,
Erick Abarca