Find a Work Study Job
There are lots of perks to a work study job, one being shorter shifts and very flexible scheduling. They understand that you're in school and they're more than willing to work around whatever athletics, activities and classes they need to. Downside? They don't typically pay very well. $8.00 an hour might seem like a lot but when you're working 6-10 hours a week, it doesn't really add up to much. My advice? Take a work study job and have that money go directly toward paying off your student balance instead of getting a paycheck, trust me it's worth it. Don't forget though you have to apply for work study when filling out your FAFSA.
Learn How to Manage Your Time
Seems pretty obvious, right? Wrong. In high school, you're used to waking up, going to school, possible extracurriculars after school, going home, eating dinner, homework, then going to bed. In college that's all different. I can say with 99% certainty that your schedule will not be the same every day and that makes it really hard to get into a routine and sleeping pattern. You'll learn to adjust, don't worry. It takes time though so don't be surprised when you feel exhausted the first few weeks.
Become a Morning Person
If anybody is going to fight this point, it's me. I hate mornings. There's nothing worse than dragging yourself out of a nice warm bed to go to class, but you need to. The sooner you learn to wake up early it helps establish a schedule like I mentioned earlier. If you have an 8:00 am class wake up at 6:30. Go eat breakfast, get your to-do list for the day, and go to class. Don't have class until 11:00? Still wake up early, it will help keep you in a routine. Use that time to workout, do homework, or study. Once your body is used to waking up that early it comes naturally and doesn't seem as awful.
You'll Learn to Love Coffee
Honestly, there's not much to say about this point. Just accept it. 😂
Get Yourself a Good Agenda
One of the best things I ever did was buy myself a good agenda. There are tons of options out there, find one you like and stick with it. It helps keep everything organized for you in one place. I keep track of bills, appointments, meetings, blog posts, classes and tons more and I would be a mess if I didn't have it. I've linked some great options below. Here's a hint: subscribe to the blog so you don't miss a post. There might be a giveaway with an agenda this summer!
Off Campus Jobs
To be totally honest, this could be an entire post itself but I'll try to sum it up for you. Typically, off campus jobs pay more. However, you need to have reliable transportation so for those of you not bringing a car to college you either need a taxi or a bus that runs frequently or a really good friend with a car. I will say if you plan on working off campus make sure that you ask if they are flexible with scheduling. I've had nightmare jobs who would schedule me during class and then be surprised when I told them even though I had given them my schedule. Do your research.
That's it! I hope you've found some of these tips helpful. Let me know if any of these helped you out or if you've experienced any of this before!
I'm looking at working on-campus this year, it's much more convenient!!
ReplyDeletexo, Syd
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