Obtaining a job while being a student is not an uncommon thing on campus. There’s a variety of positions offered by the University and even some in the businesses downtown.

Like many others, I worked every summer since I turned sixteen. I loved being able to make my own money and the gloriousness called a Tax Return in January. It also helps that I live in Illinois, where minimum wage is already higher than most other states (a whopping $8.25/hr). I liked my job and my co-workers enough that I didn’t mind passing five out of a seven day week at work and not laying out at the beach. Though I did miss a lot of beach days while people seem to not like waterparks anymore.

When I first started my journey into applying for schools in the Fall of my senior year, it is pretty nice to say you have some work experience on your college applications. (In fact, it is something I highly recommend no matter how small you may think the job is). But I also knew that I wouldn’t mind working during the school year and between classes.

Remember: school work should always come first. Isn’t that the whole reason I’m going to school four hours away from home?

One thing you should know about student employment is the useful tool that is Jobnet. It is kind of like a craigslist for jobs around campus and downtown. So my search started there over the summer. I was awarded work-study through the FAFSA-an opportunity given to select students to take some money off of tuition-and that only aided my job search.

I found a job involved with the IMU and Iowa House Hotel, interviewed for it, and was given the position. I was thrilled because while I don’t have much work experience, (I am, after all, not a Jack of All Trades. More like a Jack of one trade) I was given the position. All i needed to do was paperwork. And then classes started. And suddenly I realized just how much 14 credit hours for my first semester was going to be. (Keep in mind that ‘they’ say that in order to succeed you need to study a minimum of 2 hours per credit hour. 14×2=28).

I wholeheartedly believed that I wouldn’t be able to handle the job at the IMU on top of my studies. I know my limits and as a person that tends to get a bit anxious over things, I could envision the stress I’d have in a month when there were midterms and I would be even further swamped.

Remember: Know your limits. If you can handle a lot, all the power to you. “But while college may seem like it has a lot of free time, it suddenly gets filled with social obligations and studying” (Thanks to the Chemistry professor who gave my OnIowa! group an EXCEL lecture)

So I did the mature thing. I emailed the guy who hired me, apologized, and then stated that I had to decline the position in favor of doing my school work.

I still want to work. The dilemma was easily reasoned out in my mind. I wanted the perfect student job: Some place where I can get a bit of cash in my pocket and be able to do my homework in the meantime. I’m in search of the perfect desk job. I’ll keep you up to date on how it goes.