Let’s face it, being a college student can be expensive. Outside of the general expenses of tuition and school supplies, many of us are either moving out from our parents for the first time or have long since had to be independent.
Doing both work and college can be difficult. While most students are not in classes eight hours a day like we were in high school, a lot of us still have plenty of assignments to do on our own time. Not to mention, a student might have sports, or clubs, or any number of events they also want to dedicate themselves to in college. We only have so many hours in a day.
When I first came to Radford, I asked a teacher how possible it was to do both full-time work and college. As someone who lives in an off-campus apartment with a sister to take care of, not working is not an option for me. I was hoping to be able to balance both college and work. I fully believed I could due to previous experience of working while doing schooling. However, both the teacher, and later on my advisor at the time, quickly shot the idea down. The teacher had explained that college worked like a full-time job and if I chose to do both full-time college and full-work, it would be like working two jobs. Some people can take that. I cannot. However, I still wanted to try and I am sure others are in places where they have to try as well.
About two years have passed since I first came to Radford and I have been doing both college while working as many hours as I can. I have since learned my way around doing both schooling and work. My first recommendation is don’t! If you can avoid doing both work and college, then focus on college. That teacher was right about how difficult it can be.
However, even if it’s difficult, doing both work and school is possible. You just have to be able to properly balance both. So here are some general tips on how to succeed in doing both college and work.
One thing to always remember if you are both working and going to college is your schedule. You are going to have a much easier time, depending on the job, negotiating with your employer about what hours you can work than finding class times to work around your work schedule. You are going to have required classes that only happen during certain semesters and times of the day. Sometimes this means that you will have a class at one but not have your next class until six. Unless you are mainly taking online classes or somehow managed to get all of your classes at night, working a nine to five job would be very difficult if you want more than just a weekend job.
Building off of that, acknowledge how much you can reasonably work with your course load. For me, while I did try to work full time, there were many times when I just could not fit five days a week to work. Instead, I worked four days or, if I was falling behind, only three. You can talk with your employer about how much you can work and if that can change through the semester. The last month of the semester as classes start working on finals, be it a test or final project, can be particularly brutal, so be ready if you need more time to focus on your studies during that time.
Be prepared to put your foot down and have a strict schedule. Your employer might try to call you in on days you need off because of someone calling out or because of something unexpected happening. If you don’t think you can make it or need time to yourself, you can say no! If your employer gets upset, that is on them.
With that in mind, also be honest about how much time you need outside work and make sure to include how much time you need to do homework. Can you get that assignment done in half an hour or is that just wishful thinking and it will actually take you two hours? Give yourself more time than you think you need and plan out specific time to do your homework. This can happen in between classes, before classes start if they start later in the day, or on the days that you have off, but you need to plan it.
If you can, you should try and get ahead on your schoolwork. Even if you’re not working, getting ahead is a generally good idea. However, when you are working and have free time, it is better to get the work done when you have a lot of time even if it’s super early rather than getting it done closer to the due date but have fifty million other things to do. The one time I was still able to work full time despite it being finals month was because I had gotten everything I needed done ahead of time. That being said, getting work done ahead of time is not always available. Some teachers, reasonably, don’t post certain assignments until it is closer to the date. Sometimes you don’t have the information you need until later or it just makes more sense to do something shortly before the assignment is due. When you have these sorts of instances, you might want to choose to get ahead on the assignments you can get ahead on so then you have time later to do the assignments you can’t.
While this might depend on the teacher, you can also sometimes ask for extensions on certain assignments if you need it. Every teacher has a slightly different policy in regards to extensions. Some are very strict and don’t allow any extensions, some will allow extensions for any reason with no questions asked as long as you ask ahead of time, and some are willing to go as far as giving you a couple of freebie assignments. However, these policies are very teacher dependent. I have been lucky to have some lenient teachers who allowed me extensions on assignments I would not have otherwise gotten done. Ask your teachers their policies on extensions and use that to determine how you get your assignments done. You shouldn’t expect extensions to just be handed to you, but it does not hurt to ask. The worst thing a teacher can say is no.
Finally, my one last final super important recommendation to anyone who wants to work and do college: please still get some sleep. Yes, almost every single piece of college success advice or health advice tells you to get sleep. That is for a reason even if it’s repetitive! I will admit, I am a hypocrite. As of writing this article, I only got six hours of sleep last night due to working a late shift and then having class in the morning. I have coworkers who get less. Not getting sleep will affect your performance in both classes and at work. I have experienced it personally and I have seen my classmates and coworkers not be able to fully function due to not getting sleep. Can’t get the full eight hours? Get what you can! Something is always better than nothing.
With all that being said, I wish y’all luck on your college classes and your work. Even if everything seems like a lot, we can and will survive. We have our whole lives ahead of us to look forward to.
Edited and reviewed by Kien Powell
