Balancing multiple lives as a college student is hard. It can be difficult to balance your social life and educational pursuits, not to mention a job. Thankfully, Eastern offers a variety of job opportunities on-campus. There are many different ways to earn money or credits towards your degree. However, an on-campus job is not always the best fit. Alea Nelson is a first-year student at Eastern, balancing five classes and work, all while working towards graduating a year early. She works at the Radnor Hotel at the front desk. Micah Lincoln is also a freshman, he works as a store associate at the CVS Pharmacy in town. Both Nelson and Lincoln work four days a week, and have a lot to say about working off-campus.
Nelson and Lincoln agree that the largest incentive to work off-campus is the pay. “The pay on-campus is mostly based on your work study, which I did not get,” Lincoln said. While the pay on-campus can be beneficial, it may be worth it to explore off-campus jobs if you would like a higher salary.
When asked about the struggles, Nelson and Lincoln had nearly identical answers. “It is difficult working late hours, or trying to adjust my hours to fit with my schedule,” Nelson said. If your job is not flexible with hours, it can be hard to balance all the different responsibilities you carry as students. Lincoln concurred with her perspective regarding time management, and also added that transportation can also be difficult when trying to work off-campus.
For Lincoln, transportation can be problematic. “I tried to make sure I worked close to the school, but the surrounding area still makes traveling difficult,” Lincoln said. Nelson agrees. She has to have Public Safety transport her to the train station, and then walk from there the remaining couple minutes.
Public Safety is largely beneficial with transportation. However, it can be hard to schedule them appropriately, and they can only travel so far. Regardless of the strains in working off-campus, both Nelson and Lincoln expressed many different advantages to this.
Working off-campus allows you to meet all kinds of people, and learn all sorts of lessons. “I love my coworkers, so I get to hang out with them after work,” Nelson said. The people you work with will likely live vastly different lives than you: they are different ages, come from different places and bring many different perspectives to understanding life. As a social work major, this is exactly what Nelson needs.
As for Lincoln, it is more about the customers that come in that further his love for his job. “I get to have bigger experiences with people… I get to meet the different communities and people that come into the store,” Lincoln said. The customers may be local, or may be passing by. Regardless of where they came from, they allow Lincoln a glimpse into the differing lives of those around him.
Working off-campus is very advantageous as a student. Meeting new people, gaining experience and playing a role in your community are great ways to improve while you are in college. Nelson and Lincoln love what they do, and believe that it adds dimension to their lives. If working on-campus is not a great fit for you, all hope is not lost! Radnor provides a lot of opportunities for work that may benefit all kinds of students, depending on you and your accommodations.
