Which would you choose: your job or school?

It seems that in today’s society most college students always have a job.  Whether it be for extra cash, to pay bills, raise a family or any other reason we all seem to be extremely busy.

Working 30 hours a week, going to school 15 hours a week, working on homework outside of school all the time and also babysitting can put a damper on living the college life.

I would know because that is the lifestyle I live. I am constantly busy but I still make time for friends and have a little downtime when I can.  But college is important to me.  Someday I want to work at a job that pays more than minimum wage, I work 40 hours a week, maybe have the weekends off and offers me benefits.  I want to have a job where I could make enough money to maybe raise a family or just settle down in general.  It seems that these days going to college is a prime factor in getting that sort of satisfaction.

“It’s like having two full time jobs,” stated sophomore Melanie Edwards, a student here at UNC Charlotte. “It seems that everybody here has a job and it’s exhausting.”  Edwards is right.  Going to school is almost exactly like having a full time job but you bring it home with you.

With college classes comes homework, papers, exams and everything else.  It gets so exhausting, especially when you have to work right along with it.  So what do you do?  Do you chose school or work?

Sophomore Chelsea Grace said, “I know that eventually my college degree will get me a well paying job that will help me in life but it’s hard to put the future over the present.  As with every other college student I am in need of money for college books, tuition, gas, rent, phone bill and food.”  And she’s right.  Eventually, if we stick with going to school and graduate we should be able to find a decent job that pertains to our majors.  But it’s not always the case.  Sometimes it takes a little longer to find that job you want and you don’t always get your first choice.

When money is a big issue in your life it is definitely hard to say no to working.  I’ve had times where I’ve been called into work when I know I should be studying for a test.  It’s hard to say no to that extra $30 though.

When you think about what you can buy with that extra money like gas, food or just necessities in general, sometimes choosing work over school seems to be the best decision to make.  So what do we do when these situations happen?

I say go with the flow.  If you feel that you should honestly be sitting at home, doing homework then do it.  If you have a big exam coming up and you know about it ahead of time, which we always do, then maybe try to make your schedule so that you work three days in a row and then have two days off before the exam.  This would help to squeeze in extra study time without the hassle of work.  Do what’s best for you but don’t work yourself too hard.

College is supposed to be both hard and fun.  Obviously we need to work for our grades but you can’t always spend your weekends hiding out in the library or working over hanging out with your friends.  If you stress yourself too hard it’ll only end in disaster.

So next time your boss calls you and asks you to come in two hours early or stay four hours late that night just remember what that college degree is going to get you.  Saying no isn’t going to hurt anyone.  They can always find someone else who doesn’t have a ten page paper to write to work instead.

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Category: Niner Times, Opinion