In her spare time, third-year College student Kathleen Baines sorts invoices, serials and processes books in Alderman Library's Acquisitions Department. Why? Because it's her job.\nBaines, like many other undergraduate students at the University, somehow finds time to fit a job between classes, extracurricular activities and a social life.
"If I had more free time, I would probably just waste it or fill it with something else," Baines said. "First year, I didn't have a job, and I look back and think, 'What did I do with my time?'"\nBaines has been employed by the Acquisitions Department for a year-and-a-half and works an average 12 to 15 hours per week. When it comes to balancing academics and work, Baines said that time management is key.
"Whether it's a job or any outside time commitment, it's a matter of economizing your time," she said.
Although Baines has discovered how to balance her school work and real work, her job does make it much more difficult to complete her schoolwork or work on the novel she recently began to pen, especially during peak academic periods such as midterms and finals.
Though her classwork sometimes may suffer because of her job, Baines' social life remains fairly unaffected. The Acquisitions Department is only open between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, which is not exactly prime time for meeting up with friends or going to parties, she noted.
First-year College student Phoebe Hankins, on the other hand, works about 16 hours each week - and mostly on the weekends.
Hankins found her job as a waitress at the Biltmore after her parents stopped giving her an allowance. Because she mostly works weekends, Hankins said her job does get in the way of her social life and that she has had to sacrifice time she would have spent with her friends for work.
Because she receives her work schedule early in the week, though, she has the opportunity to plan out when to get her schoolwork done. She also said her bosses are very flexible and understanding of academic conflicts.
"If I know I have exams coming up, I'll tell them there's no way [I can work], and they're OK with that," Hankins said.
Second-year College student Jeniffer Corena does not have to plan as much in advance, though.
"I just work it out day by day," she said, adding that the flexible hours of her job helps to keep mental stress at a minimum.
Since the beginning of fall 2009, Corena has worked as an aide to two Education School researchers, helping them organize data on Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening, a reading assessment program. Currently, they are working to make the program bilingual and are translating PALS into Spanish, Corena said.
Corena described her work environment as rather relaxed. Much like Baines, she can come in at anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. during weekdays to get her work done, leaving her evenings and weekends free. At times, she is even free to read a few pages of homework or check an e-mail or two.
Corena said she does not think that having a job gets in the way of her life or negatively affects her academics. In fact, she noted that having a job may help her schoolwork rather than hinder it.\n"For me, the busier I am the more I get done. If I have too much free time, I probably wouldn't do much with it," Corena said.
She does admit that there are times when she would rather be lazy, just like any other college student would. But being involved in the University community is important, she said, and that balancing one's time is an essential skill.
"[Having a job in college] eases you into the work force, so you are more acclimated and not just thrown into the 'real world,'" Baines agreed.
Baines found her job through University Career Services, an online database that helps students find on-Grounds employment. UCS' resources are not limited to just on-Grounds employment, however, as it also offers tips on writing r
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