Working students juggle jobs, class responsibilities

Freshman Richie Madewell can describe his stressful day with simplicity. Wake up, attend class, eat, attend more classes, and then, after all that, he must go to work.\nMadewell is forced into balancing these activities while trying to find time in the day for studying and socializing.\nMany students like Madewell face the challenge of balancing their curriculum and their social lives with their work. Some students are forced into work to help with the financial situations of college. However, many students obtain part-time jobs to gain the benefits of the situation.\nA 19-year-old double major studying Biology and Animal Behavior, Madewell tackles 17 credit hours and eight hours a week worth of work. Madewell works at the IU Journalism Library in Ernie Pyle Hall making $5.40 per hour. Madewell describes his job optimistically, with the positive aspects greatly outnumbering the negative ones.\n"I could be out socializing, but it's probably better that I'm here doing homework," he said.\nAccording to the Student Employment Office's Web site, 68 percent of IU students hold a job during some point in their college years. Research shows that students who work approximately 10-12 hours a week perform as well as, or better than, their peers who do not work.\nJeremy Mixell, program assistant and student employment coordinator for the IU Student Employment Office, said besides helping students with their time-management skills, employers highly value the extra experience on resumes.\nIf a student picks a job or internship pertaining to their future occupation, it will give him or her the hands-on experience that will help clear up questions that the student has about their future occupation, Mixell said.\n"The more positions you have during school, the more time you have to explore what you like," he said.\nFor Madewell, the benefits of working include adding money to his savings account for a guitar and tuition bills. He also said that his job is a motivating, relaxing environment to study.\n"It's kind of hard to study sometimes when you're in your room and going and hanging out with the people around you," he said.\nMany students who work choose Federal Work Study. This is a program given to undergraduate students based on their financial needs. Work-study jobs have the same description and rate of pay as other jobs, but employers seek out a marketable work-study student because it helps the company to save money. Employers only have to pay 30 percent of the student's wage, while the government pays the remaining 70 percent, according to the Student Employment Center's Web site. A student can expect to earn around $1,500 to $2,000 during one academic year. \nDespite all of the benefits of working, there are still some students who choose to remain unemployed during college. \nJunior Mike Ziulkowski, studying Marketing and Advertising with a minor in Business, said he chooses to not work because he already has too much stress and classes in his life already.\n"I'm too stressed out now," he said. "My classes are hard and I don't have enough time to even sleep. I'd rather not have the money. I can do without all the little extra small things that I don't need, like DVD's and CD's. \nMixell described students' fears towards part-time employment also, but added that the benefits should be considered.\n"Many students want to take advantage of their time in college and not have the extra burden of work," he said. "They may be afraid they will not be able to juggle work responsibilities with academic, but you are educating yourself through part-time employment."\n-- Contact staff writer Danielle Gingerich at dgingeri@indiana.edu.