Many students have always had to work part-time for various reasons while still going to school. This is nothing new; however, like many other things in daily life, the pandemic has changed the purpose and timing of this work for some students. 

   Junior Robin Brooks works at Jimmy Johns around 15 hours a week. She normally works Sunday through Tuesday, with some other occasional shifts, which is a mix of weekdays and weekends. Robin was able to get this job because there were many openings due to many people having to leave their jobs and put their health, as well as their family’s health, first.  Brooks has also benefited from  and open schedule since many things were cancelled, and she had more time to focus on work and still do well in school.

   “Without sports, I find it easy to balance work and school because each week is the same routine, so it doesn’t affect school very much,” Brooks said. “For me, working during online school is easier because I have more time and a stricter schedule to stick to each week.”

   Junior Molly Mims works at Rise Biscuits and Donuts for an average of seven to ten hours a week. She works on the weekends so she has more time to focus on school. Like Brooks, Mims also had lots of free time due to the pandemic and had no difficulty finding a job.

   “Towards the beginning of the breakout of the pandemic, I had a lot of spare time on my hands and I found myself sitting at home all day for a while. I needed something new outside of my friends and family to focus on, so I got a job as something to fill my schedule,” Mims said. 

   Molly has little difficulty balancing school and work during this stressful time. Like many other students, she sometimes may stay up a little later to get everything done, but still gets her work completed on time. 

With school being online, there is some debate about whether working while being in school is more or less difficult. From Mims’ perspective, it is easier because she can get ahead on assignments as well as her schedule. Therefore, she’s able to more effectively manage her time and do well in both school and work. 

   Junior Ilayda Akpinar works at Mellow Mushroom for about 20 hours each week. She works almost every day, excluding Tuesdays and Wednesdays when she has dance practice. Although  she has a pretty busy schedule, each of her commitments are equally essential to Akpinar. She has to go to school, she enjoys dance as an extracurricular creative outlet, and she needs a job to afford her dance tuition, as well as car insurance. 

   For some students, like Akpinar, the pandemic and virtual learning has not been a beneficial change because having to work in addition to going  to school can often result in high stress levels and decreased school performance. 

   “Working and going to school has honestly been really hard and has had a negative impact on my school work and stress,” Akpinar said. “I get home late at night and leave right after school, so it can get really difficult to find a time where I can fit in doing all my work and still getting sleep. It’s hard to catch up when I have missing work even on weekends.”