Students have always been working to make extra cash. A lot of them kept up their work through the Covid-19 pandemic, but now that school is starting again, it’s getting harder and harder to continue their work. Some students don’t mind working in these conditions, but it’s a real issue for others.

There are a lot of students who are used to working during school. With so many key differences between this year and last, people with jobs and school need to figure out a way to balance their time. Some students really don’t mind the difference, but still have to put in extra work to finish everything.

“I work with all my friends so the job is never stressful and I also got my work done with friends, so I am never stressed. My boss knows we have sports on weekends too so he always works around it so we can get our stuff done, because he takes school very seriously.” said junior Noah Chinault.

“I haven’t had many issues with balancing working and doing virtual school, however, one minor issue is that I don’t have an exact set schedule at my job. Yes, I do have my availability set and what days I am able to work, but that does not guarantee what days I will be working. As a result, each week is very different for me. Sometimes I may have to finish all my homework in one night or some weeks I will have multiple nights. Even though this can cause some stress, it has given me an opportunity to build my time management skills because I have to plan my weeks and when I will do my homework around my work schedule,” said senior Keely Crane.

Some jobs aren’t as forgiving, though. Either the work hours are a bit unforgiving, or the job itself is hard to do. It’s hard to change your hours by a lot suddenly for school. The students who do them have a harder time getting their work done and usually seem tired or overworked.

“I have been balancing my time with work, school, and sports during the week and every day. I work at Domino’s (and) it effects me because when I get home I’m tired and I don’t feel like doing anything else.” said junior Ethen Welch.

“(I have been) just trying to get the full week of school work done the first 2 days of the week, and I work the rest of the week. I work at Moo Thru and since we’re doing good, we have to be extra clean and careful.” said senior Bryce Utterback.

Things will eventually get easier, though. We are already starting the long road back to normal, and back to the way things were. Schools are re-opening and businesses are getting back to normal. However. things aren’t going to be immediately better.

“I don’t think things will necessarily get easier, I think you learn how to manage time better and you get into the flow, so I guess you have a sorta easier time. I work at Moo Thru and it uniquely affects me because I sometimes work mornings and sometimes at night, and because it changes I have to work around that to get school work done.” said senior Brayden Cole.

While the pandemic has forced us to adapt to new things, the students who were already working continued on with their new found free time. When school was reintroduced virtually, it was a new challenge. While we start to go back, more adjustments will have to be made and more challenges will have to be faced. There’s a lot to juggle besides the jobs and school, such as sports and family. It’s really showing how committed these students are.