Balancing act teaches time management skills

A large number of UA students spend their nights flipping burgers instead of flipping text book pages, according to a Campus Health survey.

A Campus Health study conducted during the 2000-2001 school year found that 81 percent of incoming freshmen said they planned to work while attending the UA.

Sixty-one percent of UA students work 11 hours or more per week, the study stated.

Many students struggle to balance their academic life with work, sometimes working multiple jobs while attending school full time.

Sophomore Cˇlina Blouin, a Campus Health receptionist, works 12 hours per week answering phones and filing paperwork and also works an additional 15 hours cleaning houses.

"It usually doesn't give me a lot of time to study," Blouin said, "sometimes after getting off work I do a little homework but then I just get too tired and fall asleep."

The responsibility of living independently and paying bills forces some students to work outside of school.

"I work about 15 hours per week to save up to pay for my apartment and maybe a car next year," said Morgan Berroth, an undecided sophomore

Nancy Puga, a pre-education junior, works the ticket booth at Centennial Hall and said she averages about 25 hours per week in order to pay her bills.

Berroth and Puga both said, however, that their jobs do not get in the way of their schoolwork.

"When it's not busy I can go ahead and do some homework. You get used to working after a while," Puga said

For working students, time management and knowing how to streamline schedules are the key ingredients in balancing their daily lives.

"My day is a lot more structured, it has to be," said Rachele Paganini, a psychology freshman.

Khameraun Wilson, a media arts junior, agrees that working 30 hours per week at the Canyon Cafˇ and Bistro in the Memorial Student Union teaches him a valuable lesson in time management.

"Working teaches you to maximize your time," Wilson said.

However, learning how to manage time is not the only benefit to being a working student, according to one campus specialist.

"Students who work are less likely to develop a drug and alcohol problem because they have something to do," Lynn Reyes, a campus alcohol and drug prevention specialist said.

International students like Kasmyap Khetani, an MIS graduate student, often opt to participate in work-study programs to pay for tuition and housing.

Khetani works 20 hours per week to pay for his expenses, but he says that he doesn't let his work interfere with his studying.

In addition to money and time management skills, students build friendships through their campus jobs.

Blouin added that work has allowed her to be introduced to people she otherwise would not have met.

"I don't know anyone in Tucson so work helps me to meet people outside of campus," Blouin said.