My fellow college students, I would like you to imagine your average day. Maybe it starts with a 9 a.m. that you generally sleep through, with an occasional glance at the podium when you jolt awake. Then you fight through the swarm to get to the lecture halls, where your hour-and-15-minute class feels like at least three. After this you have a short break before your lab, where you just happen to have an exam. During this break you eat the extremely questionable food from the nearest dining hall, and try to cram in the information you should have been studying last night. Once you finish the exam, which you're pretty sure you failed, you head back to your apartment. No, you're not done. Now you have another exam tomorrow to study for, three chapters of notes to catch up on, an essay for four of your classes, and let's not forget the novel assigned to you at the beginning of the semester that you haven't touched. This all sounds pretty awful, yes? Now add having a job to this schedule. The majority of college students nowadays are forced to have, at the very least, a part-time job in order to survive, and many take on a full-time position or work at two separate places. While I know from personal experience how horrible working while in college can be, it certainly has its benefits.
The most obvious is the money. Even though most of your paycheck goes to feeding yourself, keeping a place to live, and trying to pay off the debt piling up in your name, it is amazing to discover you have just a little extra spending money at the end of the week. Knowing you can go to the new scary movie playing that will keep you staring at your doorway all night, or enjoy a dinner that didn't come off the dollar menu, or even finally buy a new pair of much needed rain boots, is a fantastic feeling. Also, not having to constantly ask other people for a little help with rent, or to pick up the tip for you makes people tend to enjoy your company a whole lot more. For the most part, it is just a major stress relief knowing you can worry a little less about your money supply and focus a little more on studying for your upcoming essay exam. Being able to slowly replenish the money you lose while at school is absolutely necessary.
Along with this, I have found that a job actually cuts down on my procrastination problem. I'm sure for some who are working and going to school this is not the case, and a job taking up their time just means even less homework gets done. I swear I’m not going crazy though. When I know after a full day of class and work I will only have a few hours before I will desperately need to go to bed, I come home and almost immediately get to any homework I have. Simply because if I rest first it's never going to happen. A job forces me to stay in motion after all those boring classes that try to put me to sleep, which results in me actually doing something afterwards rather than planting myself on the couch and channel surfing until midnight. Working has had the effect of putting enough time pressure on me to make me get things handled before the night before the due date when the panic sets in.
One last advantage I have noticed is a job just makes you look better on paper in the future. When we finally graduate from these places we will look much better with upwards of four years work experience and a whole network of people who can vouch for us than the guy who only has his high school diploma and four hours of community service to flesh out his resume next to the degree. Being able to rattle off a list of skills you have perfected at work does nothing but make you seem like the hardworking go-getter you are. Having references more recent than your high school English teacher is more valuable than I can even express, especially if you have made a positive impression on all of your employers. So even though you may hate working at the fast food counter every Monday morning, don’t forget that sunny personality and winning smile, it might mean the difference between your dream job and living in your parents basement in the future. Overall, even though balancing work, school, and a social life of some sort can make you debate moving to a self-sustained cottage in the mountains somewhere, this is not the solution. It may be frustrating at times, but holding down a job while in college can make all the difference.
