As a college student, you are overwhelmed with school, being away from home, school clubs, and jobs. But what happens at school and in life, should not be a reason why your work life should suck. And your work life should not be another plate of stress added to your body. When you are stressed from work, a part time job for most college students, it is another negative thing for you. And it sucks when you address your concerns with your managers, and they don't do anything to mediate the problem and come to a resolution.

I speak on behalf of my SECOND job. I won't state it's name, but I will say it is a gym. It was a job that incremented stress and harassment as time went on. I was sexually harassed by a manager. I was accused of doing things differently when I was going off the book. I was told racial things by members. I was hit in the face by a member and by a co-worker. I was accused of being a whore at the workplace. And everyone's solution was to transfer me.

The day Nipsey Hussle was shot, I was only an eight minute drive away from the crime scene. And I was only doing my job of checking people in and letting people into and out of the pool area. I was told by a member to "go back to Mexico" because he had refused to check into the gym as he was trying to access the pool. I won't go into details. Most of my friends know and I would rather keep it as so. I was accused that I was cussing over the phone by people. I decided to record the person who was doing it for my sake because I was being threatened into getting fired. Even after that video, I was still threatened. I was threatened to get fired and the person being recorded would falsely accuse me of doing things, and she threatened to hit me. The summer before that, I was asked to clock back into my shift because a girl who was working wanted to go to the bathroom. I was called "inexperienced," "granny panties" and called a whore by a manager. Even after I left that job, this manager mocked me for working at my school and sent me a picture that I have decided to attach. (of course, his name will be blurred).

Most of these things, my last manager at my old job knew. But it was implied that I was problematic. Simply for doing my job or for defending myself. It got to a point where I wasn't being shifted anymore and I called the gym and the manager wasn't there. I then called corporate. Once corporate reached out to him, he said that I wasn't a happy person to work with. Once I reminded him of everything that happened, and how I had left him notes, through the system or written notes, he said "well, I can't have you here because you're not happy to work with." And I got fired. And yes, the manager lied to my former manager saying that he didn't fire me and that I quit on my own. I got fired because I called another manager to see if I could pick up shifts.

Yes, I let my manager know about me being sexually harassed. Yes, I left notes to my manager about people telling me racist things. Yes, I left notes about things members would do to me. Yes, I left notes about things co-workers would do to me. Yes, I left notes about the sales manager making me distribute business cards for him "or else I'll fire you for not doing your job" as if I worked sales. The only person WHO HAD MY BACK was an assistant manager from the sales department who left a little before I did.

Getting fired, accumulated stress, and worrying about income and money MADE MY GRADES TANK. I got my first C in college. I grew into a state of depression as I was anxiously going out looking for a job at 6am at times. And by the beginning of the summer this year, I found a job on campus. And it has been one of the best jobs I have had. Yes, I deal with customers who are not that great, but I do my best to make their experience happy. Because I know I am a happy person wherever I am. I am not sexually harassed. I am always working with someone. I learn along the way. And I get paid more, financially and through life. My supervisors are always working with me as a team. My job is working with a team.

So, how do you recognize a toxic workplace?

It's only toxic if you are stressed from it. Being harassed and nobody from a higher power is doing anything for you is a sign you need to go. If you are constantly being disrespected left and right and nothing is being done, it is a sign that you should part ways. It doesn't matter if pay is good. The pay at that job was shit. But income is important, but so is taking care of your mental health. A toxic workplace is a place where you dread to go, or a place where you become afraid of. And it's not fair when you voice concern and you're treated like trash.

Dealing with a shitty manager:

My first and third managers from that job were pieces of shit. The first one would always sexually harass me. He would stare at my stomach and try to grab it. He would call me "inexperienced" or "granny panties" and he would call me a chicken when I would ask him to stop. I wasn't the only one who wanted to leave. A friend transferred because she had caught him staring at her working out for minutes, and he took her hours away when she told him to stop staring at her.

The third manager did nothing to check up on how I was doing. I had only seen the guy twice as an employee there (I would work weekends there). It got to a point where I would tell my friends in tears what would go on, and my friends would want to call to express their concerns about that work environment. It got to a point where my friends cancelled their memberships. I was hit and nothing was done. Witnesses were down to talk for me, but they were never reached out to. But I was fired for being problematic and "not a happy person to work with."

What to do when a manager isn't helping:

CALL CORPORATE. I cannot emphasize on how much this helped at the end. The chick from corporate somehow agreed with me and saw the notes I would leave on the system and how there would be no solution worked out. She didn't agree with me calling all the time and my manager not showing up to his shift. There are laws that will protect you if you become a whistleblower. That means even if you snitch a manager out, they cannot legally fire you until there is a conclusion reached.

BE A SNITCH! Tell another supervisor what is going on and see if you could be transferred. Do whatever you can to speak up for yourself and what you're going through. A part time job shouldn't have to deter you for a long period of time.

WRITE IT DOWN. My professor from CC gave me this idea and told me to document everything. Get a notebook and write everything down. Include the time and a brief description. If there are cameras, indicate which one's managers should look out for. Take pictures of notes you leave out for your boss in case you have to leave a note. But don't feel the need to have sympathy for them when you do decide to snitch on them for being shitty managers.

How do I deal?

When you realize it is time to go, or if you're not happy, look for jobs. Give yourself about a month. If you are a college student, apply for jobs on campus or apply for paid internships. Talk to a counselor or a professor and have them be a reference for you if you need one. Ask friends if they know of anything. Once you apply, pass the interview process, and get hired, you can kiss that fucked up job a nice goodbye.

If you get fired, give yourself a week to process it. It is something stressful. But then again, you need to move on. Maybe your parents will get mad that you got fired or won't be able to help you financially. IT'S OKAY! That's when you should look. It will take a month but use what you saved up from that job to support yourself. Add on to your resume, but DON'T put references from that job unless you have other supervisors who are willing to vouch for you. And reach out to those supervisors who you gained trust from at the old job. Explain what happened and ask if they are still willing to help you. In most cases, because they know you, they will help you and not throw you under the bus.