Some students have picked up part-time jobs to help pay for food and textbooks.’
Construction
Land surveying senior Quinten McCabe did construction work for a man who required that his project get finished in three weeks.
McCabe said he worked 36 hours in only one shift.
‘ ‘It gets rough sometimes,’ McCabe said. ‘It was during the summer, and I needed money for tuition and books for the next semester.’
Get rich quick
When more hours are tacked onto a student’s job schedule, it can hinder their ability to enroll as a full-time student.’
Psychology senior Katie Thompson clocks in for 30 hours a week at Jason’s Deli, but can only make room for six credit hours.’
‘Get rich quick’ opportunities caught Thompson’s eye, like many others who are desperate to make money and sacrifice little time. These Internet or paper ads are often geared towards college students who are accustomed to laboring long hours.
‘At one point I wanted to get an Internet job, the ones that advertise all over the place, but it didn’t work out. It was too complicated for me to figure (out),’ she said.’
Advertising the scheme and organizing the project was not worth it for Thompson.
‘It didn’t seem like a very worthwhile project to me,’ she said.
Accounting sophomore Martin Quiroga Jr. had a more positive experience with finding work on the Internet.
‘If you’re in college and never had a ‘quick money’ job, then you don’t know what you’re missing,’ Quiroga said. ‘I’ve done quite a few random jobs, everywhere from last-minute performances to moving to hauling wet carpet. If you’ve never done anything like that before, I recommend you go on Craigslist and find one.’
Quiroga enlisted the aid of an Internet search engine to find work, but he was by no means the only student to do so.
Time management’ is key to juggling jobs
Quiroga said he has no problems juggling a full class load, a social life and his current job as a percussion instructor at Galena Park High School.
‘Time management is key,’ Quiroga said. ‘Calendars, schedules, and syllabi are crucial for prioritizing.
‘If you can keep these organized along with a social life, then anyone should be able to handle any type of workload. I’m taking a total of 15 hours this semester.’
Quiroga’s balanced plate may make him an exception among his peers. He said he was lucky to get his job, as he wasn’t qualified for it, but he loves the work.’
Many job positions held by students don’t stray far from the box of waitstaffing, bartending, customer service and retail.’
Some students have had luck finding and keeping jobs that would reflect good experience on a r’eacute;sum’eacute;.’
‘It may be stressful at times, but the interactions between students and I, along with the support from the community, (are) what (make) the job enjoyable,’ Quiroga said.
‘ Music junior Caleb Sturgis avoided run-of-the-mill minimum wage work by joining the team at Houston Recreation Management.’
He covers an area of Houston between downtown and Katy maintaining different pools and managing their lifeguards.’
Like Quiroga, Sturgis enjoys his job, and says it is ‘really easy to zone out while everyone else is having fun.’ Sturgis’ job, however, is not compatible with both school and a social life.’
To focus on his classes, Sturgis has to sacrifice a lot of fun times.
‘ ‘Sometimes I have to sacrifice sleep, too,’ he said.
