Music.
Risner: Hello.
My name is Lauren Risner. I am
currently a freshman student attending Arizona
State University.
Without receiving much financial aid from my parents and pretty much
being responsible for paying for my education on my own,
I have realized the significant
amount tuition is and how difficult it is to receive and
maintain a job, while balancing
good grades and a social life. Tuition alone is around $10,000. Then, there are the
expenses of living on campus, paying for a meal plan,
books, and various other fees that
the university charges students (such as gym membership,
internet connection, health
services, RHA, and many others). After all those fees, students and parents
are generally
engulfed in thousands of dollars in debt or left with
empty pockets and no spending
money for fun things college students typically wish to
enjoy. Receiving a job
is a thought that comes across many students minds during
their college experience.
Music.
Risner: There are many positive and negative effects
of students maintaining a job throughout
college. One of
the things to consider while receiving a job during college is the question
of whether grades will be affected in a negative or
positive way. Olenka Wrobel, a
freshman
student attending Arizona State University, is here with us today to share her
intake on how having a job during college affects her grades.
Wrobel: I have been working since the end of junior year
in high school. Having a job helped
me learn how to balance my time and organize things. Time management skills were
awesome. I did
just as well with my grades as I did before.
Nothing really changed, like
before I had a job and after I had a job. Then in college, at first it was hard to
balance
college
and work because college was so new and I was still getting used to it. After I started only working weekends, it got
easier and I was able to focus more in class and succeed in my academic career.
Risner: A lot of students are worried that their
grades will drop due to having a job and become
worried that they will be too stressed out and not have
enough time to focus on school.
Did those thoughts and concerns ever occur to you?
Wrobel: Yes, yes they did. For the first month and a half, I was working
25-30 hours a week
and it was really taking a toll on my grades. I felt stressed and overwhelmed. After
reducing my hours to 15-20 per week, I was able to get
back on track with my grades,
while still earning extra spending money. In a way, having a job in college has
definitely
made me feel more responsible.
Risner: Now we are going to take a moment to discuss
how a student’s grades are affected after
having a job to not having a job. We will be talking to Dominick Garcia, also a
freshman
attending Arizona State University.
Garcia: At first having
a job made it hard to focus on my schoolwork and I can only imagine it
did make my grades suffer some, but having a job did
teach me how to manage my time
and it showed me what matters most. My education comes before my money. I believe
that even though my grades did not suffer much with a
job, they definitely improved
without having a job.
I am able to focus more on my work and my classes, and I don’t
have to worry about staying up late hours in the night to
finish an assignment. I can
do it during the day now, and be able to have a normal
sleep schedule, instead of going
on only a couple hours.
Risner: Are you currently looking for another job, or
do you like not having one while in
school?
Garcia: I am not looking for a job, because I
actually do not like having a job while in school
because I already get stressed enough with schoolwork as
it is, and it kind of puts me
at ease not having to worry about going to work and I can
just worry about my schooling.
Risner: Did you work during the week? Or primarily weekends? Or both?
Garcia: They would schedule me during the week and
then randomly call me in to cover shifts
during the week.
Risner: So basically, the main concern about having a
job in college is how it will affect grades
and social life.
As we can see from both students, working during the week definitely
affects grades and stresses students out. For students who wish to maintain a job in
college while keeping up their grades, having a job
during the weekend or without very
many hours would be the best idea for a job. That way, they can focus on their
school work and still manage to get a little spending
money on the side for fun activities,
or can start saving up their money for major future
things. Overall, having a job in
college does help students feel more responsible and
learn how to manage their time
wisely. For those
who are looking for jobs in college and actually are willing to work, it
is a good idea, just as long as it is in moderation and
under control.
