The school year is officially back in full swing. Students have returned to their dorms or apartments and gotten back into the school schedule with classes, homework, extracurricular activities, and reuniting with friends. Some of these students elect to work part-time or full-time as well.
Whether a college student decides to work part-time, full-time, or not at all is completely up to them. Despite this seemingly obvious fact, there's been quite a few negative articles swirling around the Odyssey community, such as this one, that ridicule unemployed college students. These authors strip unemployed college students of the right to be stressed out, wondering how they could even experience stress in their job-free lives. They also inaccurately say that unemployed college students have an "easy life" because they have access to their parents' money, an unlimited time to socialize, and an easy schedule consisting of classes and studying.
I was rather surprised that people could actually be THAT ignorant to others' circumstances, but then again, we like to believe that the grass is always greener on the other side. I have experienced both sides of this situation – I worked part-time during the first two years of my college career and have not during the last two. My first two years, I went to a community college in my hometown, so I simply continued working at my high school job while taking a full course load. Then, I transferred to a public university too far from home to keep my job. As I enrolled in major-specific and work-heavy courses and participated in more clubs and organizations, I realized that a job wouldn't be possible for me. So, I feel that I can provide insight into this topic that shouldn't even be an issue.
Firstly, if you shame unemployed college students simply because they choose to not have a job, you are terribly ignorant to reality. Anyone who is currently or has ever been in college will tell you that taking a full course load is basically a full-time job on its own. The unit of the "credit hour" takes into account the amount of time spent in class as well as the time needed outside of class to get homework done. The typical formula is one credit hour equals three hours for homework. If a student is taking 12 credit hours (the lowest amount you can take to be full-time), they should spend 48 hours per week doing homework. Obviously, this is already more than a full-time job, so going to school alone will already take up a lot of your time. So yes, we may "only" have to go to class, but attending class itself and doing homework takes up a lot of time no matter if you have a job or not. Then when you consider that students often participate in a lot of clubs as well, there's even less time to socialize and shop for nonsense. (This is where I use my time management skills).
I can understand why employed college students think that unemployed college students live off their parents; after all, if they don't have a job, how do they afford to not order water and lettuce? I can't speak for others, but I rely on my savings account and whatever money I've made over the summer. Just because you don't have a job doesn't mean you're broke. Even if some students are broke, why should anyone care where their money comes from?
Though I do think that working is great for building your resume and gaining experience, working in college isn't for everyone. It shouldn't matter whether you have a job; if you're doing what works for you, then stick to it. If you're someone who does work and tries to make others feel bad for not working, you're clearly jealous. It's 2018; let's allow people to do whatever they want, free of judgment.
