By Sydney Fairbanks and Tala Alsharif / Jambar Contributors
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 41% of full-time university students are employed. With student employment and available internships, students at Youngstown State University have numerous opportunities to find work.
Senior finance major Madeline Saari works as a barista at Stone Fruit Coffee Co. and as a bartender at Bull & Bear Grille and Tavern. She works to support herself since she is financially independent.
“I work 50 to 55 hours between two jobs a week,” Saari said. “I need to work to pay for things I need for school, but it’s a lot of planning. I’m constantly planning my schedule and have set times for everything so I don’t feel overwhelmed.”
Junior information technology major, Edwin Patterson, also believes time management is important. He interns at FirstEnergy as a systems administrator.
“It can be tricky to balance the responsibilities between the two. The best method is time management, even if that includes writing out an entire daily schedule,” Patterson said.
Patterson previously worked two jobs, one of them being over an hour drive away from campus.
“It was very difficult, especially with the very long distance drive.” Patterson said, “I had to be very careful with the classes that I selected at the time, so I could have an entire day or two dedicated to driving all the way just to be able to work.”
Patterson’s current job allows him to do remote work within scheduled hours.
Patterson said he had to learn good time management skills to balance his work, school and personal time because in the past, he struggled to find time for extracurriculars such as marching band.
“I used to be a part of the YSU marching band but due to really heavy demands, I no longer have time to put towards marching band, but even without that I’m still able to find time to be a part of other organizations on campus,” Patterson said.
Other students also mentioned having difficulties managing extracurricular activities.
Saari was previously the president of the Student Information and Supply Chain Association and part of the women’s rugby club, but has since stepped down from these positions because of her workload.
Senior marketing major, Garrett Bailey, works at the Math Achievement Center and has an internship with the Ohio Export Internship Program where he works as a marketing and exporting intern.
Before starting his internship, Bailey served as president of the American Marketing Association.
“I just didn’t have time with a full course load,” Bailey said. “I was constantly running around, even more than I am now, and constantly trying to plan meetings, do both jobs and a full course load.”
Bailey said if students want to participate in extracurricular activities, they need to learn strategies to stay organized.
His strategy is maintaining set times for work, school and free time to stay productive.
“I try to leave work at work. If I’m not at work, I don’t want to be working. So [I just try to] keep things compartmentalized,” Bailey said. “And then when I’m at home, not working, I try to divide up my time between free time and school work.”
Saari says her work and classes can be tiring and demanding, but is determined to make it work. She receives support from the employers at both of her jobs, which makes the workload easier.
“The owners at Stone Fruit are amazing, so supportive all the time, always making sure that [I’m] okay and they’re very flexible with my schedule,” Saari said. “Same with my manager at Bull & Bear, he’s amazing. It’s like family at both places, which is really awesome and not common.”
Saari’s jobs help her connect with others and gain customer service skills that benefit her future career.
“You get to know people, which is exactly what I’m going to have to do with my future career as a certified financial planner,” Saari said.
Bailey’s work allows him to gain experiences in multiple areas.
“I think for my future, I have a lot more experience and what it just looks like at face value. I wear so many different hats at work,” Bailey said. “It’s just a constant tornado of different things that you’re doing.”
Bailey advises students to communicate with their coworkers, managers and professors when things get overwhelming.
“Say something, don’t just bottle it up. You have to communicate what’s going on with you so they can help you, because they’re more than willing to, you just have to say something,” Bailey said.
YSU students searching for job opportunities can find more about campus jobs on Handshake.
