By Lacey Reeves
Oh, to live the dream! You graduate high school, go to college, and after earning your degree you enter the workforce in your intended field. But for me, that was never an option, and realistically it isn’t for many other college students. The National Center for Education Statistics found in 2020 that 40% of full-time students are employed while in school, and I’m one of them. In fact, his past year in 2022, I had five W-2 tax forms!
Government and financial institutions like to focus on student loans, debt, and how much money is owed for college attendance, but even the ones who don’t have loans still have just the same need for help. I grew up in a Missouri middle class family, and was fortunate to receive grants to cover tuition, housing, books, and fees related to attendance. The rest was all on me.
My parents would offer to help me if I really needed it, but they sure weren’t going to hand out money for groceries, gas or mechanic bills, phone or insurance bills, or appointments of any kind. I had to earn the money to take care of those myself. One study actually found that 53% of Millennials and Gen Z are still on their parent’s phone plan.
According to Statista, the most common jobs for college students are in the food and retail industry, and I’ve been through both. Typically, one of the running jokes of the public school system is that if you don’t do well in school, you’ll end up working at a McDonald’s. For me, that’s exactly where I started. I started the summer before my high school senior year and worked there through the school year.
I decided not to get a job once I started college in the fall of 2019, so I could adjust to a new environment. When the pandemic hit, and I was sent home in spring of 2020, I picked up right where I left off, working full-time from March till August the following school year.
As my money and patience with food service dried up, I had to find somewhere new to work and tried my hand at retail at stores like Party City and JCPenney. With school back in live session and not online, I found myself in a time crunch. I had to make it to work on time at 4 p.m. after my last class ended at 3:30. I got in a cycle where I would go to class and work and then head for bed after getting home, not touching my reading or homework.
The days I didn’t work I would hang out with friends or relax, when I could have caught up on schoolwork. This isn’t to say I became a bad student, but I began to accept lower grades. The College Board even highlights part-time work as a cause for decreased school success. Heck, there were even days I would say yes to a call asking me to come work on my day off because I valued money from a shift more than being in class.
I’ve had to say no to going out with friends many times, spent many weekends at a cash register, and missed out on many spur-of-the-moment movie viewings, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
I have skills I would have never gained from going to college alone. I have developed a sense of urgency that will assist me in my future career. I know how to handle stress, don’t get overwhelmed easily, and know how to work efficiently, quickly, and accurately.
Working at McDonald’s isn’t anything to be ashamed of, and neither is having a part-time job while going to college. In fact, you might just gain some skills your fellow students might not learn for years to come.
Lacey Reeves is a senior at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and begins graduate school this fall.
