College life can be expensive. Not only the cost of tuition, but groceries and trying to have a good time in any way can sometimes break the bank.
Some might say that having a job in college can be a distraction, but studies show that having a job in college may actually be beneficial.
Many students have to pay for their own college. Having a job can ease the pressure of paying for your education while gaining you other important perks as well.
Having the extra spending money is a huge plus. Having some extra cash in your pocket allows you to have more fun as a student.
Money management is an important skill to have. Once you get your paycheck, you don’t want to go out and blow it all in the first few days. It is important to consider how much you are making alongside the consideration of what you need to spend on gas, clothes, etc. Developing money management skills now can prepare you for when there are more bills to pay.
Having a job makes you have to manage your time. You must know when to be at work as well as know when you must make time for school, social time and rest.
Having a job as a student also helps you get ahead of the game. This means that all of the skills mentioned above seem like second nature to you once you get used to it and will make you a pro in your future career.
A study done by Boston University showed that students who worked 20 hours or less had an average GPA of 3.13 while nonworking students averaged a 3.04. However, students working more than 20 hours a week averaged a 2.95 GPA.
Working less than 20 hours a week allows students to make some or most of the money they may need while also having time to do school work and have a social life. Working any more than 20 hours, though it may be manageable, may take away from school work, free time and most importantly, sleep.
A good way to make sure you have a manageable workload is to get an on-campus job. You can do just about anything from a desk job and answering phones to working in food services. Anything you can think of that you might like, it is probably available.
If you are thinking about having a little bit of wiggle room with your college budget, you should try to handle one of these jobs during your university career. It could be more beneficial to work a little than to not work at all.
Merrill, a freshman Journalism major from Chapel Hill, is an opinion writer.