Managing class and work at the same time can prove to be very difficult. I came face to face with this problem ever since I started working my senior year of high school. At the time, I worked at a clothing department store in Staten Island. It was not an easy transition for me because I was taking all of my AP classes. However, I told my job that I would be able to work after class on some weekdays because of my short schedule. What I hadn’t realized at the time was that the more days you give your employer, the more hours they were going to make you work.
Every week I saw myself working more than the last and it became extremely exhausting having to go back and forth from school to work every day. Especially when I had my bad days with customers. Sometimes when I got home I wasn’t able to finish my homework or study for the test I had the next day. I took that experience and translated it into what I should do better in the future.
When I started college at Hunter, I decided to quit my old job. I started working at Papyrus where I made sure to advocate for myself by telling them the days I could work while leaving at least one day, usually Sunday, where I would take the day to study for class. Sometimes it’s good to give yourself a day off so that you can take care of your health.
Lastly, when you are creating your schedule for classes, make sure to strategically maneuver your classes so that your school schedule can correspond with your work schedule. For example, I have class three days a week and I work four days in the week, which includes one of my class days. Since I have to study sometimes I take the opportunity to study at work when I can or finish homework on my lunch breaks. In the beginning, it may seem like a lot of work, but college costs money so no matter what you do it's going towards your education, the most important part of it all.