Perspective: When is My Next Day Off?

By Sasa Maksimovic
Menlo Oak Staff

We all know all too well about the life of a student who works full time and goes to school full time is an absolute pain. Juggling this kind of schedule will have you feeling like you are losing your mind. But this is something must be done if students like me are going to get the money to pay for their education.

During my first few years of college, I had a few jobs here and there,  but nothing full time. I started working full time around October of 2011. And boy was I in for a surprise. 

From that October to about middle of January,  I worked 48 hours a week while going to school. I had one day off every week, and every day I was working 8 hours. That’s when I really started to appreciate a few hours of free time.

I would get to school at around eight in the morning and I would leave at 1 p.m. and go straight to work to work from 2-11 p.m.  I would get home from work and be absolutely exhausted and just want to sleep, but as we college students know there is always some one-page assignment your professors wants you to type up.

Most nights I wouldn’t get to sleep till around 2 .m. After getting a few hours of sleep, I would wake up and do it all over again.

It got to the point where I felt like I was a zombie, I had no idea how I was getting up in the morning. I was always so tired. And it wasn’t like I was doing some office job where I was sitting at a computer for 8 hours. I work at a warehouse where you are running and lifting things nonstop.

You have to be really focused on what your goal is if you are going to accomplish working full time and going to school. You have to know what you want and be ready to sacrifice for that objective. Because there will be many days when you want to go out with your friends, but you can't. Instead,  you might have to go home and get those few extra hours of sleep.

Some of us college students get these jobs just because we need some extra money; some of us get these jobs because we have no choice. Gas is getting more expensive you got to drive to school every day, and your parents can’t make that money available for you anymore.

It is a lot of pressure on students because on top having to worry about making that money, you also have to make sure you stay on top of what is most important--and that is school. Before I got hired I told all my bosses that school is No. 1 priority. I told them  I would  not jeopardize my grades under any circumstances.

But while you are working full time and your body is starting to fall asleep at random times of the day, it is so easy to get side tracked. It is so easy to just say,  well I’m not going to go to my first class, I need some more sleep.

Before you know it you are missing, a couple a classes a week. It happens, none of us are robots, and people get tired.

But you got to make sure it doesn’t happen too often and you keep those grades up. Here are some tips that get me by on a daily basis.

•          Invest in some 5-hour Energy shots. These things saved my life many times

•         Start taking naps, every time you get a hour break or so to go home. Take a nap, you will love yourself for doing it.

•          Get your homework done at school, don’t leave your homework sitting there untill after work. You will be exhausted and won’t want to do it. Do your homework at school in those hours you have between classes. 

  When you have a day off, make sure you get a lot of rest. Don't get stuck helping someone carry a piano up the stairs to their new apartment. 


This is part of an occasional series reflecting opinions of Menlo College students who have part-time jobs while they are full-time students. Let us know if you would like to write for "Learn, Earn" by sending an email to themenlooak@menlo.edu