Full-Time = No Time
It is extremely common for students to keep a job while being a full-time student in college. Expenses begin to pile up between apartments, books, food and partaking in social activities. I, myself, am a full-time student who has to work continuously during the school year to afford these costs.
This past semester at Bloomsburg, the flexibility with times for online classes allowed me to work a full-time job at a sheet metal shop. While the flexibility was helpful, it got extremely taxing on my mental and physical health at times. Every day had some variation, but the hardest were the days that I had to work 10+ hours. It was difficult to wake up early, spend all day doing hard work and come home to do schoolwork. Unfortunately, this was my only option in order to keep up with expenses. Most days I would come home, exhausted, with very little motivation to do school work.
To get over the lack of motivation, I had to remember the goal of going to college. Though this seems simple, it is what I needed to push me through. I constantly reminded myself I have put in an extraordinary amount of hard work throughout my college career, and there is no reason why I should stop trying as I approach the end.
I know I am not the only student who has this experience. My close friend, Kyler Mcallister, a pre-med major at the University of Scranton, stated, “Working and balancing school can be a tough task, but it is necessary for a lot of students.”
He continued to say, “You don’t realize how expensive things are when living on your own, so for most, a job is a requirement to afford everyday items.”
Despite the great amount of students who do this, there is very little recognition for their hard work. The constant pressure of work and school can deteriorate a student’s capabilities, causing them to struggle in both settings. While this is difficult to accomplish, it is not impossible.
