I think tired is a word that accurately sums up how a lot of us college students feel. It’s especially true for those who have to balance school and a job. Speaking from experience, it’s not an easy feat to accomplish. Those who are able to keep up with their studies while working somewhere around 30-plus hours a week deserve a serious pat on the back.
This term, without a doubt, has been the hardest yet. Taking an intensive foreign language class over the summer while working full time can be excruciatingly draining. Averaging about four hours of sleep per night during the school week is not fun, nor is it something that we should have to endure. Unfortunately, most of us are required to.
During a conversation I had with my uncle, who also went to Portland State, I learned that his tuition as a foreign, non-resident student was about the same as mine is now, even though I’m a resident of Oregon. Currently, non-resident tuition is almost 340 percent more than resident tuition.
As of now, it costs $1,740 plus fees just for one 12-credit term at Portland State as a resident. According to a useful little website called CollegeCalc, back in 1994 when my uncle was still a student, the cost of tuition was around $2,826 for the entire academic year for a non-resident. Can you imagine how nice it would be if we only had to pay about $700 per term?
So if you ever find yourself complaining about the stresses of work and school, and someone from an older generation calls you lazy, don’t listen to them. School is severely more expensive now than it ever was before. You’re not lazy. You’re worn out.
Some jobs, admittedly, are harder to deal with than others. People who deal in the business of customer service know exactly what I’m talking about. Putting up with the general public is a challenge in and of itself. I’ve worked for a certain corner-store company for almost three years now, and I’ve seen and dealt with people from all walks of life.
In short, people are stressful. They’re demanding, they’re whiny, they’re obnoxious, and a lot of the time, they have no common sense and no common decency. Working as a cashier allows me to see people’s true nature, and it’s not very pretty. I think it’s important to mention that the stress of work is something that can remain within you and build as other stresses pile on top of it.
And it’s not just school and work that we have to balance. We have social lives to nurture, familial responsibilities to fulfill, rest that we need to be taking and financial stress that we have to bear on our shoulders. All this weight can really take a toll on our mental health. It’s no wonder that we often find ourselves in crisis mode, wondering what exactly we’re doing with our lives. It’s no wonder that we become irritable and a bit transient in our activities throughout the week. And it’s certainly no wonder that we have dreams of flying off to Europe and exploring the continent for several months before taking on any more of life’s obstacles.
Even though our main objective is to get our hands on that degree, we have to keep our friends in our lives. We need to make time to go out, have fun, share some laughs, stay up all night, drink too much and so on. For the sake of our sanity, amongst all the work, work, work, we need time to play. We are human, after all.
If I’m allowed to offer a small piece of advice, it would simply be to breathe. Really. Don’t be too hard on yourself, and don’t put the weight of the universe in your backpack. Always remember that what you’re working incredibly hard for is worth it. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be putting yourself through all of this. Just keep in mind how accomplished you’ll feel at the end. It’s not easy, but it’s doable.
Success isn’t easy either, nor is it linear. Just when you think you’re able to put one foot forward, you have to bring it back. But that’s perfectly OK. You’re going through the motions of life, and you’re doing the best you can. Don’t be hard on yourself. Be proud that you’re doing and are able to do something that a lot of other people probably can’t. Be proud that you’re fighting through the real struggle.
Balancing school with work and a personal life is difficult, there’s no denying that. But when it comes down to it, we have to, somehow, find the motivation to keep moving forward and keep that very attainable goal within our sights. Eventually, we’ll get there and we will be able to sigh that great sigh of relief and achievement, knowing that we won. But during the battle, it’s important to remember that we must take care of ourselves.
