Every day I wake up, shower and then I go to class. When classes are done for the day, I go to work. I have now learned a valuable lesson about working and going to school. Two months ago, I got a full time job at Killington, making snow at night. Five days a week I went to work and five days a week I went to school. The first week I worked was during Thanksgiving break. The job was easy enough, but I was sleeping in till noon and all my classes were from nine to noon.

My mom told me that there are older people who do what I did and raise a family on top of going to school and working. I told my Ma, “yeah well I’m not those people.” They are going to school around their work schedule, I’m working around my school schedule. The difference is you can make your class schedule around work much easier than you can make your work schedule around your schooling. Now that was my dilemma, I had to work around my schooling.

Unfortunately, I made some mistakes.

I sacrificed homework for sleep, and I even missed an exam. Both of those actions severely affected my grades, and up to that point, I had good grades. Before I learned my lesson with working too much, I would walk through Ellis Hall and people would say “I’m broke.” I would roll my eyes and say “get a job.” Now I say “get a job, but don’t work more than 20 to 30 hours a week.”

I now know that it’s real easy to blow off homework and class for sleep. I also advise to get a job locally. Most employers in the area will understand that you attend college and they will work with you. You could also try to get a job on campus because most of the jobs on campus will work with you around your school schedule.

As I write this column, I’m early for my new part-time job at Pizza Jerks. I’m calm and less stressed because I have time to work and attend school with plenty of free time for homework and time for good friends and good times. So to those freshmen who need a job while you’re in college, I hope that you take my experience and make a good decision in picking the right job.

Thank you and remember life smells sweeter when you don’t surround yourself with garbage.