Your first year of college comes with its own issues, from worrying about your classes to your major to trying to find time to socialize while still keeping your grades up and keeping up with homework. In addition to that, some people (like myself) decide to add some extra stress by getting a job, be it because they need the job for financial reasons, because they want the experience, or a good resume, or all three.
Having a job as a freshman is a unique balancing act. You have to schedule out your day to an insane degree, saving the two hours between classes and work for that short reading that you know you won't do if you're tired, and deciding to do the rest of your homework well into the night because closing took longer than usual. There is no time for a lack of motivation, because if you decide not to do your homework one night you might not get free time for the whole week, leaving you a week behind.
While there was very little time for procrastination, and meetings with friends had to be planned out two weeks in advance, working during freshman year had some clear benefits. Working taught me time management in a way that just having classes could not have. Instead of sitting around for the whole day, then getting to my homework, I had to finish my work quickly because I had little time in between classes and work. Working also helped motivate me to do my homework, because it was a choice between getting it done or getting to sleep on time.
Working also gives you general skills that are great to have. Working improves your interpersonal skills, especially if you work in food service or retail. You learn to help someone find exactly what they need in what seems like no time, allowing them not to spend a lot of time on something that only takes a little. Working also improves your interpersonal skills with your coworkers, and your ability to work in a team. Group projects are a pain if you don't have a good group dynamic, and the same is true at work. Working requires you to work on a team and cooperate in order to get everything done on time, much like a group project, but where a group project ends when it's submitted, working together is a long-term relationship.
Along with the obvious benefits of something to add to your resume, and the money, working also teaches you to manage your own money, making sure you don't spend beyond your means.
While I sometimes did not have time to sleep as long as I would've liked or did not have time to get every single piece of work done before class the next day, working taught me some valuable lessons and gave me great skills that I would never have experienced otherwise.
