At some point in your college career, you might ask yourself whether you should work. Should you focus only on school or focus on being a working student?
On one side, if you fully dedicate yourself to your studies, you will have more time and energy to perform well. Consider yourself lucky if you are among the people who have sufficient wealth to cover college expenses. But even if you have everything covered, there are still benefits to being a working student. On the other hand, if you, like many others, don’t have sufficient funds to pay for your college, don’t worry! This is something you should feel right about. Remember, we are not all born with the same opportunities, but we can still create our own.
While yes, there can be good and bad arguments as to why you should not work in college. There are still powerful benefits as to why you should.
Benefits of being a working student
- Lessons student debt
- Allows you to learn and practice time management
- Gains transferable skills
- Builds self-confidence
- Allows you to make networking connections
- Solidifies your career goals
- It helps you learn budgeting skills.
- Allows you to establish a work history
- Working during a semester can be counted as credits (if done the right way)
- Working a part-time job/internship doesn’t necessarily have to slow down your graduation date. I worked part-time through my entire college years and graduated in 4 ½ years with honors.
But of course, there will be challenges when working and studying simultaneously. The good thing is that we can learn from others. Here are some advice and best practices that helped me while in college.
Best practices for working while in college
- Manage your time wisely. Give yourself time between work and school. Context switching can be mentally draining. The last thing you want is to work in the morning and then have a few minutes to walk/drive to school.
- Ease into it. Try working a few hours the first week and incrementally go up.
- Only work a few hours. Working between 16-20 hours is an excellent range to stay in. You want to be manageable (this is assuming taking 12 credit hours ).
- Give yourself a reset time. Make sure you schedule some time for yourself. Scheduling time for yourself means when you don’t work and are not in class. So please rest. The last thing you want is for your mental health to take a toll.
- Give yourself time to do your assignments. While classes aren’t long, the projects and essays will be.
- When applying for a job while in school, make sure they are flexible regarding hours.
- Stay organized. Your calendar will be your best friend.
- Have a person who you can talk to about your day. Keeping everything to yourself will be overwhelming.
In conclusion, give yourself the time and opportunity to fully engage in the academic experience while still experiencing the benefits of working. You will find the college career journey more meaningful if you do so. Because it’s not the classes or jobs you have in college, it’s the things you do and the people you meet that you’ll remember the most.
Read this article for more college tips.