College, Work and Stress

When you think of college life you think of students going to classes, studying, going to events on campus, and of course working. It has become a necessity for students to have to work part or even full time jobs while attending college. Of course, with trying to juggle school, your social life, and work can come a good amount of stress. While going to college and working a job it is helpful to know how to handle it all.

In 1985 the number of students who worked full-time while in school full-time was 366,000; in 2000 over 828,000 full-time students were working full-time. Working while in college can bring many different problems with your studies. It can limit class choices, limit class schedules and also limit the amount of classes you can take. Many people work while in school for different reasons from making money to pay off school and/or student loans to having some money for fun and for your social life.

“I do think it is necessary [to work while in school]. Not just so I have some sort of income to buy books, food, etc., but I also think having a job while going to school teaches people how to multitask and better prepare them for when they leave school.” says Maryville senior, Jenna Bartak.

Working while in college can be a good and bad thing. Depending on how you handle all of the different demands that may be required of you. I went from going to school part time and working 30 hour weeks to going to school full time and only working 15 hour weeks. I never thought the two semesters would be very different but working less hours a week has turned out to be a very positive thing for my schooling. Not only does it allow me more study time but also more social time while learning how handle both work loads, just in a less intense way.

Third year PT student, Talia Arndt says, “Now that I am not working this semester I am less stressed compared to when I worked all the time last semester. Also, I now have a lot more time with friends so my social life is much better and I now actually enjoy school and am having fun.”

If you are trying to juggle a busy schedule of work and school there are many different ways you can handle the two without getting yourself stressed. Some tips are taking a break from both so that you can exercises a little, go eat your favorite snack, have fun with some friends, or even just take a nap.