The Effects of Study and Work Simultaneously
Many students take part-time jobs during their time at university. Nonetheless, it is a double-sword to take a part-time job in the extracurricular time. Students want to earn money, but the work will sacrifice their rest time to take a break. In the following, I will describe both benefits and disadvantages I have encountered.
The first positive effect is that I do better in time management because of taking a part-time job. Though I still have a great room to make progress, I think I have improved one of my bad habits that is procrastination. Sleeping is crucial for every student; thus, if I do not quit this bad habit, I may have no time sleeping and impact my status on the next day. It will become a vicious circle in the long term which influences my health. Furthermore, I can tell the importance of everything I should do more clearly. In the past, sometimes I put what I wanted to do or not emergency to do in front of those that really needed to be finished first, yet this caused me to stay up late to meet other deadlines. Now, under the pressure of deadlines and work, I will finish what should be done first, and I get the benefit of better time management that having more time for sleeping.
Another positive effect that I can learn how to allocate the use of money. Beginning life with study and work, I have an access to make a little income. Except for the living wage, I get more budget for entertainment. I do not have to totally rely on the living wage from my family to afford expenses besides the necessities, owning to more choices with additional money. Also, it is not an advisable choice to spend all I have earned, so through this experience, I learn the way of managing money in reality. I put my salary in another account separated from the living one. This can prevent me from using money easily and save money for me in the future. Despite the fact that the salary is not so much as the formal job offers, it provides a sense of security that I can use money more freely, and not need to be worried about running out of money.
Nonetheless, I find myself becoming more exhausted than when I was a freshman after starting to take part-time job in my sophomore. It is not only because of the part-time job, but also due to the heavier study pressure. Therefore, I spend more time coping with pressure in my life and my unstable mood. It sometimes costs several days or even a week, and I usually write my feelings down in the diary since it is difficult for me to tell others my thoughts. Moreover, taking the part-time job sacrifices time for relaxing. Although it seems like a disadvantage, I view it as a way not to waste time on scrolling the cellphone. Taking part of my time on the phone to exchange some money sounds like I use my time effectively. Persuading myself with this reason, I am more willing to do this work. To sum up, being exhausted is my choice, and I should do my best to enjoy it.
Including the tiring life, the better ability of time managing, and more options on costs due to taking a part-time job, what I have obtained are money and irreplaceable experience these days. Probably a few years ago, I would be glad that I took a part-time job while I was still a student, and even I would like to try different kinds of jobs at university. To become economic independence earlier is one of my purpose, too. Although this decision makes me lose lots of time to relax, it is still worthwhile working in the student period.