by Justin John Dulogin

Restless and sleepless— these are the mundane effects of the daily routine of a working student. Despite these, students still pursue the unwanted exhaustion amidst the pressure and stress of the academic requirements. The choice of being employed as a student has complex rationales. We cannot simply say that the person is unfortunate that’s why he or she has to work. Most of the time, the person is in need of personal or family resources for survival or daily financial provision or sometimes, people work out of personal pursuit. Commonly, we study to get a job in the future but for us, we work to attain education.

The choice of working while studying is sacrificial. It limits learning and lessens social life due to duties and responsibilities that are performed continuously and simultaneously. Therefore, there is not much spare time for socialization. We are racing against time to fulfill our duties as well as our desires. With the demand to keep studying, working and staying awake are very challenging duties for a working student to survive every single day.

According to Weade’s study (2004), working students are significantly different from fulltime students. Working students who are more punctual in school, have fewer unexcused school absences and have higher Grade Point Averages (GPA). The hypothesis that working students will exhibit the same tardiness pattern at work as well as in school is strongly supported also. That is, students who are punctual at school may also show promptness at work while students who are tardy at school may also do the same at work.

Princess Maria Ilul, a senior high school student of AISAT, chose to work a part-time job in a fast food chain in Davao City.

“I decided to work because I want to help my parents. They actually can provide my daily necessities but I encouraged myself to do this because I want to prove something to myself and to have my wants as well.” Princess replied when asked about why she wanted to work.

For me, I had experienced being on a job as a student. It was a choice out of passion since I wanted to try working as a radio host. After school, I must immediately go to work. The hardest part was that, I had to carefully plan my schedule in preparing for both my topic and content for hosting and in doing my school requirements. I had to maintain the balance of my mood because it would deeply affect my job. Consequently, the money I got was a huge help for emergencies.

Working and studying at the same time must be carefully thought of. In this kind of routine, exhaustion varies, depending on the worker if he is doing such hard-earned job out of passion or need. Either way, it makes one’s life complicated because it takes guts and risk to exert time and energy that could lessen rest and productivity. At the end of the day, one ponders on the very purpose of working while studying: is it really your only choice and is it really worth the sacrifice? If it contributes to one’s growth in all aspect of his being, of course, he can always give it a shot.