Students on the lookout for jobs
After paying for books, tuition and housing, many students are looking for work. However, there may be a minor stipulation to refilling purses and wallets – the fact that finding a job in Logan is tough.
David Mecham, an undeclared freshman, has been looking for work at local banks and said it gets frustrating fast.
“You have to get up here early and start looking if you want to get a job,” he said.
Mecham needs money to pay for school, living and a social life, and hopes to find a job that will work with his schedule and give him 20 to 30 hours a week. Mecham, who’s from South Jordan, said looking for Logan employment is harder than in his home town, but moving here is something he does not regret.
“I like it because most people here understand how it is,” he said. “We’re all kind of in the same boat.”
Angie Hammond, a senior majoring in physical education, can relate to Mecham and said job hunting is extremely hard.
“Last year, I needed a job and it took me almost a whole semester to find work,” she said.
Hammond, who is looking for work again, most recently applied to work at Tommie’s Donuts, a place that would help pay her bills. Even though Associated Students of Utah State University covers some of Hammond’s expenses, because she’s an ASUSU senator, she said there is still always more money needed.
“My family doesn’t support me, so I’ve worked all the years I’ve been here.” Hammond said. “There’s no way I could go to school and not work.”
Although working is a priority for her, Hammond said it’s difficult to balance 15 credits, social life, study time and everything else in between.
“You kind of have to prioritize. When I have class on Friday nights and plan to work Saturday mornings and nights, it leaves me without a lot of social life, but I can manage it.”
Prioritizing for Hammond means late nights and early mornings.
“When I get home at 11 at night and before I go to school is when I do homework,” she said. “The best studying is late at night. It’s the only time I have.”
Others find that their jobs aren’t as stressful as Hammond’s. Eric Evans, a junior in civil engineering, said working at the computer lab in Old Main allows him social time because it is never more than 20 hours a week and he can do minimal studying while on the job. He believes every college student should have a social life.
“You should work if you need to, but you shouldn’t work so much that you don’t have a college life. That’s why there are student loans out there. You don’t have to slave away your early 20s to pay the bills,” Evans said.
Those looking for jobs may have a hard time because both the competition and the turnover rate are so high, he said.
“If you come in September, they automatically know that you’re going to leave in May,” Evans said.
However, he did admit there is still hope for those needing the extra income.
“I looked around before I got my job and it was definitely tough, but there are jobs out there if you really look,” Evans said.
-mnewbold@cc.usu.edu