University is an important and exciting experience for young people. It’s a new chapter in our lives where we can start to be independent and experience the “real world” that our parents seem to be referring to more often than not.
We are supposed to use this time to find who we are and get a feel of what we want to spend the rest of our lives doing. However, no one told us it would be one of the most stressful times in our lives. There’s no way to properly prepare for the journey ahead, at least for some of us.
For instance, having to juggle post-secondary education as well as a part-time job is a challenging task.
At first it seems fine. Your new studies are going well. You find your classes interesting. You are positively overwhelmed with the excitement all around you, especially during frosh week. Then you start your part-time job. Nothing remains perfect—in fact, it only gets more complicated.
Tuition, books, and housing are not cheap expenses that are just handed out to students. Part-time jobs give us an idea of how to manage our time and carry out multiple responsibilities. Many of us want all the hours we can possibly get from our jobs because the ultimate prize is a paycheque. We start to realize rather quickly the value of a dollar and just how each dollar should be spent. Phone bills and grocery expenses are on the list right next to tuition and school supplies, so every dollar counts.
One problem that arises when working a part-time job is that you might have an unequal balance between work and school. Your place of work could give you minimal hours due to a lack of sales within the company and as a result, pressure starts to build around whether or not you can afford schooling. On the other hand, your place of work could give you more hours because it could be a busy season, and therefore you’ll have less time to focus on school work. With this issue, there is added pressure to complete assignments. Quizzes, lecture attendance, and preparation for finals can really take a toll when you’re also working a part-time position.
For students, the pressure of either not getting the hours or the grades you need is an issue that is all too real. Some students can balance the two perfectly, but for others it takes some getting used to and some practical experience. University is going to throw curve balls every chance it can. The key is to be ready for it and to not stress yourself out too much with the little stuff.
