Since the summer before my sophomore year of college, I have constantly held some form of employment.
Initially starting off as a fun part-time retail summer job, I was able to carry on working during the school year. I even did well enough to be promoted to a sales lead a year into the job.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't see myself having a future in retail, nor do I see myself wanting a career in a similar environment. I definitely don't like folding stacks upon stacks on graphic t-shirts, just for a customer's stroller to accidentally knock half-a-table-full of them down. However, I am in college and I do have my expenses.
Working a part-time job in college isn't easy in any fashion. Especially if you're in rigorous classes, multiple extracurriculars, and hoping to live a somewhat healthy life. I know this first-hand. Having a job while in college is actually one of the toughest experiences, particularly if you decide to work in retail.
Retail can be fun; you get to interact with a diverse clientele, gain communication skills and become well-adept with how the retail business works.
However, retail can also be tiring. You constantly are recovering tables, can easily face the brunt of someone's bad day, being called in when someone is sick, and, the worst, having to miss out on activities and events because you couldn't get the day off. You'll never get worse FOMO (fear of missing out) than when you see your friends having a blast at the state fair or a football game, as you're on your break at work.
However, it is a choice many college students, including myself, have made.
Yet, there is nothing worse, and I'm sure my fellow working student will agree, than when someone tells you to leave your job because of these missed events and games. Or if you make it to these events and games, but have to arrive late or leave early.
If I had a dollar for every time a peer in college told me to quit my job, well, I might have just enough money to not go into work for a week or two.
Let me set this straight. I go to work to receive a paycheck, a paycheck that I then use to go out to dinner with my friends, buy clothes, or simply save. But I do it for myself and my financial security. Yes, my parents pay for a majority of my bills like rent and school fees. And yes, I have loans that help me pay for books and supplies. Is that enough of a reason to not work and put off holding a job until the summers? Absolutely not.
Having a job while in college has done more than provide me a biweekly paycheck, it has taught me to remain humble. I will never be one to go into a store and put things in the wrong spot or leave clothes on the floor of the fitting room. It has taught me patience. You become a pro at reiterating store policy on why we can't accept a year-old sweater, no, not even for store credit.
It has taught me that money is hard-earned. Some days, you might earn your paycheck by cleaning windows waiting for time to pass by, and some days you might have to use all your strength in smiling and ringing a line of customers that wraps around the store.
The working experience allows you to appreciate all the hard work and hours your parents have invested in their own occupations to provide you with all that they have. And it stops you from spending money frivolously.
So please, stop telling your friends to quit their job. I know you mean well and want your working friends to not miss out on these fun events but realize that it's a part of their lives.
Working provides many a level of financial freedom that gives them more opportunity to go do something fun. Working isn't easy, sacrifices are required, but no one ever said being an adult is easy work, huh?
