ALISSA SMITH
Staff Writer
Students who balance their studies and jobs may be losing sleep, but they are gaining experience, time management skills and connections that will take them into the post-collegiate world.
The number of college students who take on a job at the same time that they are enrolled in classes has greatly increased in the past decade. The number of college students between ages 16 and 24 who work part or full-time has risen from 49 to 57 percent since 1984, according to a study done by the Current Population Survey.
More than half the population of college students across the nation is employed while enrolled in classes, and Pepperdine students are no exception.
Junior Lauren McCord said she works for the University Events Department on campus because she enjoys the job.
“Extra money is always helpful, but also I really like the job,” McCord said. “This is my second year working in the department, and I really love the girls I work under and getting … such a wide variety of experiences.”
McCord’s work experience includes being a cashier at a coffee shop and a sales associate at a travel store. She also juggles sorority life, campus ministry activities and University Ministries, along with her class work and job.
Junior Jonathan Tamayo works for the campus television center managing camera, audio and lighting equipment. He was motivated to look for an on-campus job to fill the time he has between classes.
“I have breaks in between classes and live off-campus, so I figured I might as well get a job to kill the time and make some extra money,” Tamayo said.
Tamayo also noted that his on-campus job offers him a chance to do homework and to take some time to settle down from his normally busy schedule, which includes serving as recruitment chair for his fraternity, an anchor for the Newswaves 26 and work on the new DVD yearbook.
“My job is really not stressful at all and actually gives me a chance to sit and breathe a little,” Tamayo said.
Junior Taylor Wilson works for the Center for the Arts Box Office in Smother’s Theatre. She chose to work on-campus because it seemed the more convenient choice.
“My motivation for working is to earn money in order to survive — to have money for food and gas,” Wilson said. “I would get paid more if I worked off campus, but on-campus jobs have a better understanding of scheduling around my school events and work.”
Learning to juggle a job, as well as a number of other activities and schoolwork, is a skill that employed students consider beneficial for their career goals.
“I’ve gained a lot of professional skills just by being in an office and setting and attending events,” McCord said, whose job involves assisting in the planning and coordination of major events sponsored by the university, such as the Pepperdine Associates dinner and graduation.
“It helps to teach me with time management,” Wilson said about her job at the theater. “I have to handle jobs, e-board positions and 18 units. It keeps me on my toes.”
Juggling so many hours of work takes sacrifice, many students giving up their sleep to continue working.
“I average about four hours of sleep a night,” Tamayo said, who said caffeine is his tool of choice in making it through the day. “I guess I just do things one step at a time and eventually everything gets done.”
McCord understands the power of caffeine.
“There are those nights when I get about three hours, and drink a lot of Diet Coke the next day,” she said.
Junior Amanda Allen, who works as a member of the Center of the Arts crew calls team, puts her lack of sleep into perspective.
“Without the money I wouldn’t even be able to pay for my classes, let alone be worrying about the homework for them,” she said.
Working a job often cuts in to more than simply sleeping time, however.
“With other activities, I just have to be careful to budget my time and sometimes miss things if I’m already committed to working or being at an event,” McCord said.
Wilson agrees, but she said that she also sees another side to working.
“Sometimes having so much to do gives me a good excuse to have to tell someone I can’t do something that night,” Wilson said.
Many students agree their dating life, for example, is affected by the long hours.
“It makes it harder to meet someone because if I have worked a lot of hours in one weekend it makes me feel too tired to go out at night,” Wilson said. “If you don’t get yourself out there in a lot of different social areas then you are fighting a losing battle.”
It is clear that Pepperdine students join the work force during their years in college based on many different motivators, including fun, connections and money, but beyond all these things, they receive benefits to which many of their unemployed friends do not have access. They learn time management, decision-making, prioritizing and networking skills that will help prepare them for life after graduation.
11-02-2006