Students striking a balance between work and school

Balancing college and a job is a task that approximately 70 percent of students manage while obtaining a four-year degree, according to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education. However, the juggling act can quickly become tricky when student’s struggle to find baance between the two worlds.

“I don’t know what the exact number is but we do have a lot of students that work while they’re in college,” Mary Roberts, director of the Career Center said. said

The national employment rate of college students is 51.4 percent, according to a study conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in October of 2009. More students are working, some by choice, others for extra income.

“I feel like I have to work to help pay for stuff at school—like books, groceries, gas and rent,” said senior exercise science major Tyler Mabe.

Many students do have to work for income purposes, but others gain valuable experiences from working during college. Roberts said that students obtain a sense of independence, work experience, and receive good references that could possibly help in the future, when attempting to find a career.

However, there are disadvantages when it comes to working while in college.

“When I was working it was hard to complete projects, homework, and write papers when I was tired at the end of a long day,” said senior liberal studies major Erin Logue.

Logue has decided to take this semester off from working due to the difficulty of her classes.

“We recommend at some point during the four years, whether its an internship, even it its unpaid or a paid part-time job—do something to get you use to being in a working environment,” Roberts said.

For students that don’t work while in college, there are numerous other activities that can be done to gain experience. Roberts says that job shadowing, informational interviews, volunteering and internships are all ways to gain experience in your field.

“At times it feels like I have no free time or no time to study but other times it’s not bad at all,” Mabe said about balancing work and school.

Roberts offers some advice to students, like Mabe, who must work.

“You’ve got to have time management skills,” Roberts said.

Simples tasks such as creating a to-do list, scheduling time to study, keeping a calendar can help students become more organized.

Organization is key to maintaining a healthy balance between work and school. Roberts also says that for incoming freshmen, it’s best to become settled with classes before looking for a job.

Posted by AubrieSofala on Feb 3 2011. Filed under Close Up, Special Sections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.