The first things your friends will probably say when you get a new job, while in college or after is, “how much do you make?” You might brag that you might be making the big bucks but you probably will at least have to work either Friday or Saturday night. The job might also be stressful. After all, there is usually a reason and downside to why you might be making twelve dollars an hour rather than eight or making good money through tips rather than none.
The way I see it, the more money you make at a job at this age and any age for that matter, the more hectic, more responsibility and more pressure the job will bring with it. Not all the time, but most of the time. Jobs like working in a crowded restaurant can take its toll after a while, even if you are making quite a bit of money through tips. The same goes with places like UPS and FED-EX. Those places attract workers by starting them with a great pay, usually around nine dollars an hour with raises twice a year. But you will be surprised to find out that most workers at those places do not last more than six months because they can not handle the work load and go to school at the same time. Not to mention the horrible hours. I know personally from friends who have made the mistake at working at those places.
Sure, they are making more money than other students their age, but does making more money make a person happier? Would not a nice flexible schedule and nice work environment working with good people be better than making lots of money? That will probably make a person happier than making more money; especially when in college. Yet, many students have such stressful jobs. We already have school to worry about, why do we have to complicate our lives with a high-stressed job?
Now do not get me wrong, some students need the money because they actually have to pay for their books, tuition, and maybe rent so they very well might need the higher paying, higher workload job, or the job that gets the good tips. But for the rest of us that just need spending cash, really at least for our years in college, a job with flexible hours and a nice, relaxing work environment with good people working at your side just might be the job for you.
It does not matter what type of job; it is just a matter of finding one that suits you. Maybe it is a job where some of your friends or other students in your age group work at? Perhaps a job with the ability to choose your own schedule to some extent. Or a job that does not require infinite amounts of effort or being under pressure all the time. Who wants to work a hectic job in college when you may be having one for the rest of your life after college?
College is meant to be enjoyed while learning. It is not meant for you to be working all the time to be making money that you do not even have time to spend, unless it is absolutely necessary. You have your whole life to work. If you really want to work while in college, get a job that you would not mind coming to three or four times a week. Do not get a job that you hate coming to. These are perhaps the best years of your life; enjoy them while you can.
Daniel Macri is a junior film major.
