Emily Mulcahey
Opinion Editor
It is no secret that in most cases, a college education comes with a hefty price tag.
While I am always inclined to think that a good experience outweighs the cost, I am also a firm believer of working while you’re in college. How else will you barely be able to afford an amazing spring break?
There are a few options to this: work study, non-work study jobs and working over the summer are the biggest. Work hard, play hard, right?
Internships are indescribably important in college. If you want a job, you need to prove you have some experience. However, most of them are the ever-so-dreaded word: unpaid. So, it’s those first couple of summers before an internship that it’s really time to capitalize on making that dough.
I have been fortunate enough to master the fine art of waiting tables. Alright, it’s not an art and it requires half a brain, but hey, it’s quick and easy money that doesn’t involve selling drugs. And, if you’re nice to the cooks, you can expect a few “burned” chicken tenders to be waiting for you on the line after dealing with a mean table.
Although waitressing in an outdoor bar isn’t the most glamorous job — I mean it’s the middle of the summer, and I’m sweating on my customers — but it has kept my bank account pretty stable for someone my age which has allowed me a lot of freedom while I’m at school. I’ve worked hard for every cent that I’ve made, both to fund my fun at school and to help with at least some of my debt when it comes sneaking up on me.
I’ve also held one work-study job or another since I was a freshman. These have ranged from being a member of the janitorial staff to now working in admissions (started from the bottom now I’m here?), but I would have drained my savings without these jobs. With all the things I do at school, and all of my plans for the future, I need to save as much as I can now.
So, have a ton of fun while you’re here. The stupidly over used “you only live once” really does apply heavily to being a college student. However, in order to actually be able to do all the things you want, it’s going to take a lot more than a few sympathetic donations a month from mom and dad.
I envision myself taking on the world in a few months, and if I have to scrub a few floors or take some lip from an annoyed customer in order to do that, well, so be it.
mulcahek12@bonaventure.edu
