There
is a saying,” All study and no play makes Jack a dull boy. ” However, I want to
say that all study and play but no part-time job makes Jack becomes an
incomplete college student. According to Working Their Way Through College, “Student employment and its
impact on the college experience” In American colleges, 78 percent of students has
part-time job experiences (ACE Center, 2006). Considering about the benefits of
practicing managing time, building a healthy opinion of money, learning some
communication skills, I think all college students should have part-time jobs.
The
first reason why students should have a part-time job is that it helps them
know how to balance and manage their time. Many college students have several
part-time jobs. They think it is good to have a part-time job. For example,
some students have two part-time jobs; one of my roommates has two part-time
jobs. She told me that it was good for her to have a part-time job. Her
management between part-time job and study can help her to know how to make and
use weekly block schedule, daily plan, and semester calendar. These are
beneficial to her college time and future. Many college students face the
challenge that how to manage their daily use of tine effectively. As a college
student, you likely are- or soon will be- juggling a variety of
responsibilities and tasks, both study and part-time job. In this case, we can
make the conclusion that a part-time job is helpful to us to know how to
balance the use of time, because some students usually underutilize available
time. The importance to have a part-time job is that it can help us to maximize
the use of time.
The second reason why students should
have a part-time job is that it a part-time job is helpful to them to have
healthy opinion of money. Many children learned the value of money by receiving
allowance from their parents for the first time. It is difficult for every
family to teach their children to be responsible for housework. Paying children
to do extra work around the house can be useful. It can also help children to
build the idea about money. For college students, earning pocket money can be
helpful to their lives and they will know money is not earned easily. For some
students, they want to earn money just because they want to earn money; they do
not have a healthy opinion for money. According to an article in Korea Times,
some students are working dangerous jobs for money. For example, one student’s
name is Kim Hyeon-jun, took part in a bioequivalence test at a hospital for the
money. During that time, he was taking medicines and had his blood taken frequently
(Kim, 2011). This example reveals not everybody has healthy opinion for the
money. However, a part-time job can help students to build a healthy opinion of
money, and also can help students to learn skills in financial literacy.
According to the same article in Korea Times, Nam Doo-in is a university
student in Yongin. He wants to study abroad next year, and now, he is taking a
part-time job to save the money for his studies (Kim, 2011). This example tells
us, a part-time job also can help us to budget our finances. These are two
examples to explain how a part-time job is helpful to us to have healthy
opinion of money. In addition, some students who do a part-time job could help
decline their parent’s economic pressure. According to an article in Education
Research Papers, some students, who financial condition not so good, have a
part-time job to afford their education tuition. For example, another cannot
always turn to his parents because his family’s financial condition is not
good. He thinks being a grown man; he must afford himself by doing part-time
jobs. This is a good example for decline their parent’s economic pressure. To
build a correct opinion of money, they should find a part-time job. After I
come to the US, I find the most difference between Chinese students and
American students is that many American students have their part-time jobs to
earn money. They always think that they are already adults, and they should
make livings by themselves. That is a really responsible concept, and it is
developed when they were children. They know making money is difficult, and
they will value their life. Part-time job is a good chance to develop the
concept of valuing money, so it is beneficial to our lives and our future.
The third advantage to have a part-time job is that
college students could learn good communication skills, and learn how to work
with and help other people kindly and effectively. It is important for every
college student to have a good relationship with others. During the part-time
job, college students can develop the relationship with someone else by making
friends. For example, some students who are very shy can be a little outgoing
by make friends during the work. Furthermore, they can enter society earlier
which means they can have some experience about job when they are in the
college. According to an article in Education Research Papers (8, 18, 2010), people
can find out our real field of interest and lead us to the success by part-time
job. For example, the author’s major is architectural design. He has a chance
to take a part-time job in a design company; it is very helpful for him to get
a practical design experience. It will be quite different if the students have
working experiences before they graduate from college. For example, when they
are writing the job applications, they can write that they have been working
the same thing as a part-time job for many years. The boss will appreciate
their work experience. Therefore, to have a part-time job, college students
will learn how to get along with others in the job. During our work time, we
need teamwork to complete our assignment sometime, that is an opportunity to
improve our ability of communication with others. After we meet many kinds of
people in the society when we are students, it will be much easier to associate
with others when we graduate.
However, just as a coin has its two sides, there are
some disadvantages for a college student to have a part-time job. Most people
who are against to having a part-time job think that study is the most important
thing for college students, if they have part-time jobs, it will influence
their studies, they may be tired after doing the work and make them distracted
from studying; and a small part of them can’t balance and manage time well
after they get the jobs. Some may have bigger problems about having part-time
jobs. They usually will read whole chapter’s information on day before the
exams or quizzes. During exams or quizzes, they usually forget a lot of
knowledge and get bad grades of important subjects. Furthermore, some students
may have really heavy study load so that they have vast amount of homework to
do. It is just impossible to have a part-time job. I agree with that. For a
small part of college students, it is not good to have a part-time job, because
some students have to choose between leisure tome and study time, leisure time
always wins, and they always end up cramming the night before a test. From the first
reason, that is helps them to know how to balance and manage time, I think, for
most of college students, there are more benefits than disadvantages to have a
part-time job. So the key to make part-time job more beneficial is that balance
the time between work and study. That is very important because we are
students, and our major task is studying. That is also a huge challenge to us.
In conclusion, thinking of that part-time jobs can make college students
to learn how to manage time, how to build the correct opinion of money be, and
how to get along with others well, it is necessary for all college students
should have a part-time job. They will enjoy the experiences and the skills
they learn in it. We are already adults, and we should know how to live in the
society. Part-time job is really a good opportunity to feel the real world, we
may have trouble in studying or job, and we may have to deal with all kinds of
frustrations. We should become capable and strong, and part-time job provide
the chance. We may not be really incomplete if we don’t have part-time jobs,
but the jobs can make our lives more integrated.
References
ACE
Center (2006, May), Working their way through college: “student
employment and its impact on the college experience” (p.1)
Kim, T. (2011, June 1). Collegians struggle to
juggle work, study. Korea Times. Retrieved
from http://www.lexisnexis.com/.
Kim, T. (2011, June 1). Collegians struggle to
juggle work, study. Korea Times. Retrieved
from http://www.lexisnexis.com/.
Education Research Papers, Students Should Not
Take Part-Time Jobs While They Are Studying In Universities. (8/18/2012) Retrieved
from http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Students-Should-Not-Take-Part-Time-Jobs/382179
Education Research Papers, Students Should Not
Take Part-Time Jobs While They Are Studying In Universities.(8/18/2010) Retrieved
from http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Students-Should-Not-Take-Part-Time-Jobs/382179
