TOUGH JOB BALANCING BOTH SCHOOL AND WORK

        Many students obtain jobs during their junior and senior years of high school in order to support themselves or to support their families. The U.S. Census finds that 1 in 4 high school students have jobs and work.

        It can become quite a challenge when trying to balance school in the morning and work in the afternoon. Not to mention any hobbies some students may have, such as the things they enjoy, like drawing or playing an instrument.

        “I don’t really have time for any hobbies unless you call sleeping a hobby because when I get home I’m exhausted,” said  Alexis Ramirez, a senior at Richmond High School.

        Depending on the time they get out of school, students have limited time to finish their homework before they have to go to work, to ensure they don’t fall behind in school. This may cause some students to be tired during school or work due to the lack of rest.

        “I have trouble managing both school and work. I don’t usually get home until 8:30 p.m. sometimes 9 p.m., and I’m tired when I get home. I really don’t have time to do my school work but I try to work on it in class, maybe during my lunch and if I don’t finish in time then I try to work on it a little bit when I get home, before work,” Ramirez said.

        “Sometimes I don’t even go to sleep when I get home. I stay up until 3 in the morning and only get 3 hours of sleep to get back to school,” he said. Ramirez works at Target for 25-30 hours a week. He earns minimum wage.

        When he was working fulltime on weekends, Christopher Keopaseuth, a senior at Richmond High School, lost interest in school. “I worked during my sophomore year of high school. I worked in construction. I would go to school for the week and then on the weekends I would go to work with my uncle from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. When I would get home I would do homework and finish late at night. I would be so tired that I didn’t want to go to school on Monday,” he said. He doesn’t work anymore due to lack of work.

        Edgar Quezada, a senior at Richmond High said he quit his job because,” I wanted more time to focus on school and get my work done. I also wanted to be able to get full nights of sleep, as I couldn’t do that when I used to work.”

        Having a job can’t be all that bad. It can have some benefits; it can help improve your social skills, such as being able to communicate easily with others and not feel nervous or socially awkward. It can also benefit you by making you more conscious of time management. Having a job can help students set a schedule for themselves– not everyone knows how to manage their time correctly.

        Students also get first-hand experience in what it is like to have a minimum wage job, a reminder of how important school and their education is.  Alexis Ramirez said that working has helped him improve his social skills.

        Julio Rodriguez, a senior at Richmond High School, works a full-time job. He does it, he said, because he wants to be able to pay for things such as his cell phone and his cat. But working full time while going to school comes at a price. “I feel so tired at school sometimes due to the fact that work can be so exhausting.”  

        “I work at a fast food restaurant, and it can get extremely full. Sometimes our co-workers can’t show up to their shifts, so we don’t have anyone to cover while we take our breaks, so we don’t. It has been so full before that I’ve gotten to work at 4 p.m. and did not get a break till 8:40 p.m., which is usually around the time I leave.”

        Rodriguez understands the benefits but also knows the pitfalls of working while going to school:  “Overall, if you struggle in school as it is, working could be a bad decision,” he said. “However, if you think you have enough time on your hands, working could actually be beneficial for you due to all the skills that you acquire.”