Student workers manage multiple tasks

While many students feel that attending high school is enough work, others take on part time employment on top of their school responsibilities.

Senior Alex Rohland has managed two part time jobs and college coursework.

Alex said he began his first job at Burger King during the summer before his freshman year, and is currently working as a team leader at Panera Bread in Lewisburg.

He said he recently left a job at Nottingham Village, which meant working Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings there, while working Saturday and Sunday evenings at Panera. Since he left Nottingham, he said he will work a normal five-day week at Panera, he added.

According to Alex, he is working to build up his savings and help prepare for adult life.  “Having savings will make it easier for me to do things like buy textbooks for college and eventually move out of my parents’ houses,” he added.

Since Alex, who plans to be a speech therapist, is part of the ACE program with Bloomsburg University, he only has classes Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays.

“While this allows me to have more open availability for work, it also means I have to do all of my schoolwork on my own time because my classes are lectures,” said Alex. “Generally, I probably spend around an hour or so every night Monday-Friday doing schoolwork and studying as well as about two to four hours a week watching prerecorded lectures.”

Managing school and a job can be very stressful, particularly when he has a heavy work load for school, said Alex. “I try to keep my time planned out as much as possible to minimize the stress of having to find the time in the day to work on school,” he added.

Alex said it is hard to find a balance. “It’s really easy to forget that you need to do one thing if you’re focusing all your energy into something else, so you have to be careful and pay attention to everything you need to get done,” he added.

Sophomore Camden Weaver said he worked as a lifeguard over the summer, but has chosen not to work during the school year. He said this is because he is busy with school work and other activities, like swimming.

According to Camden, he has a lot of time to complete school work since he does not have a job after school. He added that he might get a job, “possibly in the spring or fall when I don’t have to swim.”

“Sometimes having a job helps students be more aware of the need to budget their time for school work,” said Guidance Counselor Ms. Leslie Robinson.

Ms. Robinson said that making a schedule of what needs to be done each week is helpful when managing school work and a job.

Alex said his advice to working students is to not feel obligated to go into work on scheduled days off. When he first started working, he said he was afraid to say no when a manager called him in.

“No manager worth working for is going to be mad at you for not coming in,” said Alex. “Don’t be afraid to say no to your managers… especially if you have schoolwork that needs to be done.”

If students  decide that they want a job, Ms. Robinson said sometimes the guidance office is contacted by employers looking for employees. These jobs are sent out to students by email, she added.

“Make sure if you are filling out an application, you fill it out completely and that it is as neat as possible,” said Ms. Robinson. “The employer is not going to want to spend time having to decipher hand writing. They move on to the next application.”