By Hadley Polinsky
Juggling work and classes can be a challenge for any student. Working in dining services on campus, even though it is often fun, cuts into homework time.
“I don’t have any time in the middle of the day to do homework, so I have to do homework starting at five or six. It’s hard,” junior Heather Rose Stegman, who works at Oppenheimer, said.
While some students find it harder to schedule homework time with a job, others enjoy that scheduled work leaves only certain times to do school work. “I would say that I feel more productive when I have structure in my day and know that I have things to do,” sophomore Bridget Myers, who works at Lillis Cafe, said.
Sophomore Diversions Cafe employee Hannah Ritner agrees. “It’s a nice break where I’m still doing something productive and making money,” Ritner said. “Even though I’m tired when I get off work, it’s a nice break where I can do something other than homework.”
With shifts that inherently cut into homework time, some students have figured out how to schedule their shifts at times that still allow for homework. “I choose to schedule my hours so that I have my evening free for homework,” first-year Annelise Phelps, who works in the diner, said. “I have a better schedule this semester because I learned from last semester.”
No matter how carefully planned shifts are, these jobs like any are still another time burden to a full-time student. “Every now and then I’ll have a shift at the same time as a big assignment, but people are really good about covering each other’s shifts when stuff like that happens,” junior Levi Sofen, who works at The Cellar, said.
Despite how work may affect employees’ homework time, tight-knit communities have been formed through work. “As long as you’re not working by yourself it’s usually really fun and you get to hang out with some new friends,” senior Hannah Borgerson, who works at catering, said.
Stegman agrees, and has made many new friends within the Oppenheimer Cafe community. “It’s a really tight community. There’s only sixteen people who work there, so I’ve developed really good friends from working there,” Stegman said.
“This job never feels too stressful and I have really supportive co-workers who I know would step in if you need help. It never really feels too much,” senior Tamara Runnicles, a Lillis employee, said.
Working on campus not only provides a new community, but also allows students to socialize in other ways. “It really forces you to get out on campus, and you get excited because you see people you know and you get to make them drinks and that’s a lot of fun,” senior Sarah Brown, another student worker at Lillis, said. “It definitely adds another community.”