Sure, the movies and television shows have made it look so simple. All of your young adult life, you've strove to be the one that can "do it all": adorn the most fashionable clothes, effortlessly pass your classes, drive the nicest car, and just seem to have everything. But, like everyone else in the world, you are not a television character. Your finances are not fictionalized, your life is not scripted, and you cannot make money just because a writer says you can.
In the real world, we work. And for young adults, who want and are taught to crave these flashy things, working comes second only to academics. And sometimes, the two don't mix well. Because nowhere in the employee handbook do they tell you how to work an eight-hour closing shift when your research paper is due at midnight.
And sadly, 'having work' is not exactly the most acceptable excuse for turning in that homework assignment at 12 a.m. rather than 11:59 p.m. the day before. Because, you know, according to professors, work just falls into the category of important things students don't have in their lives, along with families, emergencies, or social lives. Nope, let me just ignore those silly little things because those just aren't really relevant to the long haul of getting myself a good, expensive education. They just aren't, right?
As a working student, you know that you don't have a mere second to waste. Whenever you have down time, you feel a massive storm cloud of guilt hovering over you, ready to drop a monsoon of stress right onto your brain. You feel guilty for taking an hour nap after a long shift because in the very back of your mind, that research paper is becoming an exponentially large thought. No sleep, you tell yourself. Do the paper or you never will.
And sometimes, it can feel as if work and school are on a scale. They rarely feel balanced and are constantly tipping. When you're absolutely killing it at work, when you give 150 percent and feel on top of the corporate world, you feel like your schoolwork is just piling up. When you've finally got a handle on your tests and papers, you feel almost absent at work, like you can never truly give your all because you don't have that much available to give in the first place.
But, as hard as things may get, working makes you feel good about yourself. By taking on a job, you're saying, "Hey, world! I'm going to show you how productive of a member of society I can be today!" As a student, it's more of a, "Hey, world! I kind of don't have time to do any of this but let's just try to make it work!"
And let's be honest: the extra cash is fantastic. If you're a commuter, you already know how much money you're saving by opting for an off-campus lifestyle. So, when your unemployed friends are complaining that they are downright broke when it's time to go out on a Saturday night, you feel a little burst of pride that all of the craziness that surrounds your schedule actually does pay off.
And yes, sometimes it's awful. Sometimes you just want, nay need, to just throw it all away; your homework, your work schedule, your planner, and your phone. We've all been there. I mean, all of us. But the truth is, you'd never leave one of those responsibilities behind. Because you know, and I know, that you've got this.
Sincerely,
A Working Student
