Making money, yet striving to balance out time and education as well, has become a debatable issue.

West Leyden High school students working part-time jobs are becoming stressed with handling both schedules. Staying up and also having to manage your own personal life can be a handful for many.  Right after students turn the age old enough to work, at 16, they begin working part-time that coordinates with their school hours. For most, shifts start right after school so for any athletes or students with extracurriculars they attend after school, it can be an issue. Everyday It interferes with a student’s time schedule by leaving it with no space for other activities.

In some students’ point of view, jobs are beneficial because they help build better habits. According to the College Board website, “Working while in high school can be a challenging but rewarding experience. You want to focus on finding a job that fits your schedule. You need to manage your time wisely. Working in high school can teach you essential skills, such as time management, responsibility, and a good work ethic. With the right mindset, you can successfully balance school and work while gaining valuable experience” (“Balancing High School and Part-Time Work”). Some people think balancing both work and school is challenging yet manageable as long as you have your mind set on it. According to Briana, she thinks determination plays an important role in time management between both. She states, “it affects your sleeping schedule because you’re not 100% the next day, you’re tired but if you know how to manage well, and if you know how to be consistent with everything to balance it you should be good.” At West Leyden High School, students usually begin working during their sophomore or junior year. Some reasons may be to prepare for after high school or simply to earn and save up money. Others have proved to show that they feel the same way towards this topic. Stefano Andrino says, “ Yeah, it’s manageable, but it took a lot of weeks to be able to manage that. It wasn’t something that you can just manage overnight, where, you know, in a week, you know, it’s just being consistent with it.” According to Thomas Le Barbanchon, an associate professor at Bocconi University, “early work experience can provide a signal to employers, revealing prospective workers’ productivity or motivation, which could be particularly relevant when a candidate’s school grades or final diploma lack information on specific skill levels” (Barbanchon, Thomas Le. “The Effects of Working While in School.” ) There are others who also think similarly.“ My grades are pretty good right now. I mean, as long as you have a goal, and you keep your mindset to that goal, you can pretty much get it done. Since I started working, I started doing all my homework during school, so that after school or when I got home from work, I didn’t have to stay up late trying to do homework assignments,” says Javier Castrejon, another student at the Leyden campus. 

However, others come to the conclusion that sharing their focus with a job and school has its downsides due to their academic performance being affected negatively.  In another students perspective, working a job and keeping up with school isn’t a handful. Isaac Huitrado explains, “I feel like I don’t really have time to do my homework at home. When I come to school, it’s like I’m not prepared for the class at all. Especially AP gov; for example, we usually get homework, and I don’t have time to do it so I come to class not prepared.  I don’t do the work and I get behind in class. So it becomes hard for me, but then it’s not really stressful. Yeah, it gets hard to the point where sometimes you’re just confused on what to do. You just feel the urge to stop working to focus on school.”  To add on, others can similarly agree that there isn’t “enough time to study,” Jon, a sophomore, claims. It is stated by Walden University that “It can hurt academic achievement. While the correlation between working and grades is not easy to measure, researchers have learned that students who work upward of 20 hours a week suffer from reduced academic performance.” (“Should Students Hold Jobs While in High School?” ) 

In spite of that, high school students now and future ones as well will most likely continue to work a part-time job while attending high school. For certain people at West Leyden it may be a struggle, yet they show persistence in order to overcome it with the correct mindset. On the contrary, it could be too challenging for others to prioritize both because it interferes with their education, but still continue to work.