I have a pretty full schedule while I am in college. I have classes, I have homework, I have friends, family, church. On top of all that I am on my own to pay for college, outside of scholarships and loans, so I also have a job.

Let's do some math: I work an average of 20 hours a week. I have 17 credit hours this semester. And if we take the 2 hours for every 1 hour of class homework rule seriously, that's roughly 34 hours of homework a week. All those hours add up to 71 hours a week. But I also need sleep. I try to get about 7 hours a night so that's about 49 hours of sleep a week. So that is about 120 hours of my week already spoken for. That leaves 48 hours a week for church life, family, friends, any other obligations I've made that week, and personal time. I haven't even factored in the time I put into my job at my campus newspaper, Chimes. Not to mention drive time to and from school and work, which can also eat away at valuable free time.

Now before I actually added that all up, I didn't think I would get that result. That seems to me to be a whole lot more time left over than I thought there would be, or that seems to be five weeks into this semester. I am not trying to say woe to me, look how busy I am I have no time... But I am pretty busy. Out of a seven day week, I get two whole days to myself, and five days devoted to school, work and sleep. That's one weekend divided throughout the whole week. Because, I'll tell you now, my actual weekends are not as free as I'd like them to be. My Friday date has been Shakespeare more than once already.

What's my point? I love college. I love the life, the classes, the opportunities. But it can be hard sometimes when you have to work through it to get through it. Those 20 hours a week I devote to my job aren't enough sometimes. And sometimes I need some of those hours for homework. I find myself in a tough circle sometimes: I need to pay for school. So I work. But work takes away from the time I have for homework. So I need time for school that I've given to work. But I need to work to pay for school. And around it goes. I need money for school, but time to give to the schoolwork, but a job to pay for the school...

I look at people who don't have the need to work while they go to school. I envy them so much. they must have so much time. They can just relax after classes and not have to worry about getting to work, or working out when to do homework around shift. How late am I willing to stay up after work to get that paper done? Will I be able to do it tomorrow before class? Will I even be awake enough to do it when I get home late at night? Do I want to go out with friends when I have that project I neglected to do before work yesterday, and didn't get to after my shift? Money has fallen a bit short for my next payment so I should pick up a shift to make up for it. Not that night, I have a presentation the next day. Not that night, I have to finish that art project. Oh shoot, there's no other night left. Sacrifices have to be made sometimes, whether that's sleep, friends, family, or homework I care less about. They're tough sacrifices to make. Some weeks my social life is made up only of the conversations I have at work or before class.

Time management is huge when you work while you're in school. If you don't know how to plan out your homework schedule you're not going to get things done efficiently. Stress. If I don't plan things out well enough I am stressed out at work, when I get home and think over everything I have to do, when I get one more assignment that has to be done for a certain day. Stress stress stress seem to be all I know sometimes.

It's not all bad. I make it seem worse than it is, because in those times of thick stress it seems nothing will be okay. I get everything done, and the world seems wonderful. I get a night to myself and it's the greatest thing ever. It happens more often than I think; it's just the weeks of stress and lousy time management that I remember the best. But after I get through those kinds of weeks is when I feel the most successful in my college career. Those are the weeks that I feel the best about myself.

My point is, working through college is super hard and not ideal. But looking back on that first year I got through, knowing that I put myself through it, that was the best feeling. It makes me appreciate my college schooling all the more. Paying for it myself makes me take it more seriously. And knowing that makes it all worth it.

So if you have a friend who is in college and working to pay for it at the same time, don't hold it against them if they don't hang out as much. Try not to subject them to activities that require money to have fun. Remember that they are trying their hardest sometimes, and maybe let them know they're doing a good job. It helps to know that some people notice what you're going through sometimes.

Working through college to get through it can complicate the college experience, but I would not say that it always ruins it. It can make it really hard, but it can also make it extremely rewarding. I might be speaking only for myself here, but I don't think so. Or I hope not, at least.