It's that time of year again, friends! It's time to head back to college. Final exams, late night cramming, caffeine fueled papers that miraculously get a better grade than the ones you actually spend time on, etcetera. With the rush of students coming back onto campus, there's one thing that we all stress over: books. Where is the cheapest place to buy books? Do I really HAVE to spend that much for this? I wonder if I can pass without it? Can I just borrow yours? We've all been there. As a work study student at my own university bookstore, there are a few things that we want you all to know as we kick off the new school year.

1. We are here to help you, not to hold your hand.

While this may seem a little harsh, it's a wake up call that a lot of college students need. A lot of freshman (and even a few seniors) come in with their parents and their parents will do everything for them, like finding their textbooks, paying for them, sorting out school supplies, and even listening to the speech about rentals when it in no way pertains to them. Then there are the students that come in without their parents and expect us, the workers, to be a sort of "stand in parent" in a way. They immediately ask for help without even trying to find their books first, they don't have their schedules printed out, and they expect us to walk right beside them for 30 minutes while they sort everything out even though there are 25 other customers in the store that also need helped. Don't be that guy. You're in college now. Welcome to adulthood. It's time to put on your adulting pants and actually try finding things on your own.

Now don't take this the wrong way. I'm not saying that we in no way want to help you. It just gets irritating when people walk in the door and immediately ask for help when (at least at our campus) all the courses are alphabetized and your course number and section is on a tag with the corresponding book. It's really not that difficult to find what you're looking for if you actually look first. We are more than happy to help people that have spent time trying to find their books and are just struggling with it, but when you walk in and tell us to find them for you before you even turned to look at the book section, that's when we get annoyed.

2. It's offensive to call and ask for the ISBN numbers for your textbooks so you can buy them elsewhere.

I completely understand shopping around for the lowest price. I'm a college student too! Of course you're going to buy the book that is the cheapest for you to get your hands on! However, there's a way to go about it without stepping on your university's toes. Most college bookstores have a website where you can look up the textbooks that you need for your classes, and the website will give you the ISBN number as well as the price that the bookstore is asking for the book. The textbook manager at my campus bookstore gets so upset when people call and ask me to look up their entire schedule and then go and buy their books elsewhere. Your book list is found on our website or you can walk through the shelves and write down the textbooks you need, but I'm not going to write it down for you so you can go buy them off Chegg. If you don't want to buy from us, that's totally fine, but put in the work to get them for cheaper.

3. No, you can't have your books at a cheaper price.

SERIOUSLY. Why does everyone ask for a "discount" around the beginning of the year on textbooks when you know there isn't one. You're just making it weird for us. I don't even get a discount for working here! I'm definitely not going to give you a discount just for asking! The same thing applies for "free" textbooks. IF I COULD GET FREE TEXTBOOKS I WOULDN'T BE A BROKE COLLEGE KID WORKING IN A BOOKSTORE.

4. I don't set the prices for textbooks.

Almost every single person that comes through the line at the bookstore complains about the price of their books. And I get it! Books are crazy expensive! I spent $400 on books for ONE CLASS this semester. However, you have to understand something. We buy books from a wholesaler. They're asking a certain price for the textbook, and so in return the minimum we can ask for that book is whatever price the wholesaler set. A lot of the time, that price is outrageous. That's when rentals come in. Textbooks that cost $250 or sometimes even more can be rented for $50, and by the time that book's life is over through a couple years of renting it out, the book will have paid for itself. If you're someone who for some reason only buys new books, I have bad news for you. The prices aren't moving. We sometimes have a little bit of wiggle room on used books and that's where we usually make our profit, but the new ones at our bookstore are as cheap as we can make them be without losing money.

That being said, pricing is not my decision. Our textbook manager does everything in her power to keep the cost of our textbooks low and competitive with online retailers, and yet you still come through the line and say the price is outrageous. Getting angry and verbal with me or with my textbook manager isn't going to resolve the problem. If you want to buy a really cheap version of the book with half of the pages missing off of Amazon or Chegg, be my guest.

5. Buying books at your campus bookstore instead of an online retailer gives back to your college.

I can't speak for all campuses when I say this, but all the profit from our campus bookstore goes back into the campus. All of our funds go into making the university a better place for it's students to learn and thrive. When you purchase your textbooks somewhere else, it's less money that gets put back into the school. Imagine the possibilities if everyone on campus bought textbooks at their university bookstore rather than online. Try to imagine just how much better your school would be with the extra income.

Here at my college, we have survived the first week back. Almost everyone has bought their textbooks already, but there are a few stragglers that are waiting until the last possible moment to buy the books necessary for their education. For some of you, however, this information is still pertinent, or can be used for the next semester of college. We are students too. We understand your struggle and are more than willing to help you along your path to finding what you need if you just put in a little effort and have respect for the people that are here to serve your needs.