Balancing jobs, school

Many first-year college students that attend GCSU are facing the overwhelming decision of whether or not to work, especially while America’s economy is struggling.

Students entering college for the first time will be introduced to the new reality of financial burdens. They will also face the decision of whether or not it is wise to even have a job.

For some students, not working is not an option. Many students often have to work in order to continue support their education at GCSU. One such student is Kristin Sidari, a business management major from GCSU. She has worked at Chic-fil-A for the past five months. Sidari is an out-of-state sophomore from Albion, N.Y.

“I knew I had to support myself,” Sidari said. “I am having no financial support from my parents. I have to work to support myself to live in this economy today.”

Meredith Dennis, a GCSU sophomore majoring in general studio arts, has been working for Lakeside Realty since the beginning of her freshman year. She states that she also has no choice than to work.

She has also taken out student loans to help with the financial burden.

“In order for me to make it through college, I’m gonna have to (work),” she stated. “I’m going to have to support myself. I have a lot of responsibilities with myself. I have my own responsibilities that are not my parents.”

Tuition, housing and food are not the only financial responsibilities facing college students. Paying for gas, toiletries, cell phone bills and insurance are just a few of the other financial obligations that students have. Many businesses in the community need help and seek applications for possible employees, often times hiring students.

One such location is Starbucks, located off Hwy. 441 in Milledgeville, which hires mostly college students. Spencer Young, a manager at Starbucks, said the coffee shop does not discriminate against students.

The only requirement is that employees have to be available to work 70 percent of the hours the store is open just in case there is conflict with schedules. Employees should be available to work those hours, but they are not scheduled to work 70 hours.

An on-campus job is another option available to incoming freshman. Dennis and Sidari said they have both applied for on-campus jobs, but, due to the increasingly large number of students trying to find jobs on campus, there is a waiting list.

Scheduling conflicts often create problems between the employee and the employer and often causes stress for both.

Danielle Adams, a double major in criminal justice and psychology, currently works at Capitol City located in downtown Milledgeville.

Adams works from around 10 p.m. to 3 or 4 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. She has arranged her classes so that they do not interfere with her work schedule and vice versus.

“I do not have any stress with my job as long as I do not take Friday classes,” Adams admits.

Her schedule works for her, because she said she has learned how to manage it.

Adams’ advice to all incoming freshmen: “Don’t get a job your freshman year. I would not have been able to do it my freshman year. It’s a huge difference going from high school to college.”

Chris Lamphere, a counselor from the Counseling Center at GCSU, agrees that high school and college are contrasting.

He suggests that most students come into college thinking that there will be little difference between the course loads given to students in college. According to Lamphere, they are wrong.

“(Students) think they can balance between the two worlds, but it is more difficult, because the academic requirements are greater than they were in high school” Lamphere said.

It is the students’ obligation to decide whether or not it is in the best interest to maintain a job while they are in school. Once a student has decided to get a job, the next thing to do is to start searching for jobs early.

The stress of having a job may not be as overwhelming as the amount of stress there would be if a job was needed but could not be found.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 4 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry