Texan Mosaic

by ALEX PEREZ//Feature Editor

Welcome to the real world, where you have to juggle school, work and a social life as a college student, all while trying to not drown in debt because of tuition and that really cute dress you saw at Zara.

Life in college has its ups and downs. But let’s be honest, there are more downs than ups. When people think of college students, they think of either kids who are partying until they wake up in a field covered in their own vomit, or a die-hard student who is constantly on his or her laptop doing homework or some kind of student organization requirements. Yes, there are those students in real life. But more often than not, most college students are a mix of that, which is honestly a talent to achieve.

Of course, everybody has their majors, and some even have two. But every student has a master’s degree in multitasking. Multitasking is an essential skill to have in college, especially if you work and go to school. I am a sophomore at South Plains College, and before last week, I had two jobs. I am a writer and editor for the award-winning Plainsman Press and a full-time student four days out of the week. So, of course, multitasking and having an amazing planner is necessary.

There are so many students, such as myself, who have encountered this very stressful and high-intensity lifestyle. In some cases, they drop out of college or have to quit a lot of things in order to make time for the rest, which, in a lot of cases, is very unfair.

College students are very underrated in the sense that not everybody appreciates and acknowledges the intense amount of effort they are putting in to achieve their goals in life. Professors, for example, give out assignments like the student does not have any other classes, when, in fact, most students have other classes that they have to do homework for, and then some if they are involved in any student organizations.

College students have so much on their plate as it is, and to add to that they have to get a job or even two to continue to survive is crazy. It should be looked at as an achievement, not a necessary requirement.

Parents and professors sometimes look into a college student’s world and think that it is a necessity to have a job and to have a source of income, which is true. But in order to have time for a job, it takes a balancing act. Having a job and going to school fulltime, and doing it well, is a talent that not everybody has. When a student can achieve this without having a mental breakdown very five minutes is a great achievement that should be at least acknowledged. I’m not saying that students should receive accolades for having a job and still keeping up a decent GPA, but some acknowledgment would be nice.

Work is not the only thing that is thrown into a student’s life, but socializing is important as well. For any human being, there is a necessity to have interaction with other people and to take breaks from a high-stress life. For some students, this isn’t as easily achieved because there is not enough time in the day to work, do homework and have dinner with some friends.

As a college student, there will be invites to different parties and dinners, and along with it is this stigma that you can’t say no to any of them. If you do, then you’re not cool, or you’re a “buzz kill.” This stigma can also translate into the professional side of interactions, as you have to constantly keep networking with people any chance you get to get a job after school. That also causes a lot of stress in itself.

College is not the easiest thing to do in the world. But it should not put students through as much stress as it does. Working students are constantly on the go and achieve so much in the little time that they are given. Acknowledging the effort from students is needed in today’s society, and I think it is about time we get it.