Many students are working while attending school, to pay for the costs of college.
Julie Palencia is a working student at Glendale Community College undecided major, and is ready to share her experience as well as struggles to motivate students like her to continue and not give up.
Working class students that pursue higher education, often struggle in social engagement as well as integration. It is harder for working students to relate or find peers with a similar background according to nacadajournal.
Palencia, is currently a student at Glendale Community College as well as full-time employee at Pacific Corporate Towers. She has been going to Glendale Community College since she graduated from High School in 2011.
“I could not afford to go to the University of my choice, so that is the reason why I ended up going to a community college and working. Bills just started to pile up for me. I had to take some semesters off, due to the fact that I had to work more to pay for bills.”
The biggest struggle is not having enough time and always being in a hurry, Palencia explains, once I am free I only have a limited amount of time to actually do class work and study.
Time is key for many students, with a hectic schedule it is hard for studying to take place. According to straightline. There are management tips for adult college students to take when faced with something so important like time, which is a very critical resource to manage.
Strategies include:
-Establishing priorities
-Knowing oneself
-Sleep. Being Healthy
-Build in flexibility
-Let the little things add up
-Knowing when it’s survival time
Even though Palencia’s parents do not have a degree of any kind. They spend most of their time working to take care of the household. They form a very important part of Palencia’s education because they motivate her as well as support her education.
“My family has always encouraged me to go to school and finish school.”
Family places a very important role for students pursuing higher education. Whether we are referring to a working student as well as a full-time students. Parents can be a very helpful source, they can be the students personal cheerleader.
Having someone where students can lean on as well as receive praise after a goal is met, can make a major impact. It is motivating, to see that people specially family are watching over to support.
Samuel Olvera, also a working student at Cal state LA an employee in Bank of America and a friend of Julie Palencia’s, shared some words on the subject.
“I believe that it is a very hard balance to keep specially if you are working full-time, but I feel like it also makes you appreciate not having a degree that much more. It is very important but also really hard for someone to stay on track and be able to put school first, on top of their job.”
He continues, “Explaining to an employer that they cannot work a certain day, not because it is a choice but because they cannot because of school. Or not being able to schedule a class because of work, I think that, it is a very important questions someone can ask. Ultimately it all depends on the flexibility of a major, flexibility of your school as well as your job and lastly your ability to handle all of it.”
Even though the path to continue to pursue higher education can be difficult and long. Julie still wants to fulfill her goal of graduating with a bachelor degree from the university of her choice.
“In four years I’ll be graduating, it is my priority. Working and going to school also has its advantage. It motivates you more to continue to pursue education because it is a different type of respect you receive from people once you have a degree.”
Fortunately there is a lot of help students can receive from scholarships, government help and work-study, so working students have the opportunity to fulfill their goal of continuing to pursue higher education.
