Students say balancing school and work can be a tough act
Why do some students have jobs while others don’t? Some students work full time, others part time. Many students have to work to pay for school, others work so they can play on the weekends and still others don’t work at all. Does having a job interfere with school work getting done or are students with jobs more responsible?
Preston Mickelson, junior in wildlife science, said he has a very flexible part-time job. Mickelson works as a Sage Grouse Technician on the east side of Bear Lake.
Mickelson said this is his first year having a job, and so far, he said, it doesn’t interfere with his schooling because he usually only works one day a week and his hours are flexible.
Mickelson said he’s glad he has a job because it “helps me build experience for when I do apply for jobs.”
Craig Morris, public relations senior, is taking 18 credit hours this semester and working more than 40 hours at Cache Sales. While Morris admits that his life is busy, he said he hasn’t fallen behind in his school work
“It keeps you busy. You have to prioritize and set up a schedule for homework,” Morris said. “You learn to multi-task. It makes you better if it doesn’t kill you.”
Morris said he works so much because he has a wife and child to support, and he has to work a certain number of hours in order to qualify for health insurance.
One benefit of having a job, Morris said, is the fact that he will graduate with three years of real-world work experience, which he feels will get him ahead in life.
Katelyn Richter, freshman in social work, is in the middle of her first semester at USU and does not currently have a job. Richter is not unfamiliar with balancing work and school, having worked 18 hours a week in high school at a tire store.
Richter says her parents wanted her to focus on school her first semester, and not work, so while she doesn’t have a job now, she is planning on working in the future.
“I feel kind of lazy,” Richter said. “After I get my homework done I just kind of sit.”
Richter said she feels that she would do the same amount of homework if she had a job as she does now, but also knows that she’s “not as stressed out” as she would be with the added responsibility of a job.
When asked if they believed students should have jobs while in school, Mickelson, Morris and Richter all had similar responses.
“If they think they can handle it then yes, get a job. If it’s overwhelming, then no,” Richter said.
Mickelson echoed Ritcher, saying that freshmen should try just going to school before trying to add another responsibility.
“For freshmen I would recommend maybe getting used to the flow of school first, then if you feel you can handle a job and keep your grades up then go for it, get a job,” Mickelson said.
Morris agreed, saying if students can work and go to school, it is beneficial and “gets you ahead in life.”
The USU Student Employment Center is located in the TSC, room 106. According to their Web site, www.usu.edu/studemp/, “The Student Employment Office helps students, non-students and student spouses find on-campus, off-campus, work-study and summer employment,” whether it be full or part-time work.
Other employment offices throughout the valley include Kelly Services, located at 1300 N. 200 East in Logan, and the Department of Workforce Services, located at 180 N. 100 West in Logan, or found online at jobs.utah.gov.
–kandice.crompton@aggiemail.usu.edu