Ok, first-off, sorry for that rather ambiguous title and, secondly, my explanation: what I really want to discuss is whether or not students should have part-time jobs.

As a student going into her second year of university next term, flying the parental coop in less than two months and obtaining her first proper job on Monday, I’ve began to think about the consequences of moving out of that comfortable home-life and balancing work with studying.

Firstly, I could argue that, even though I am a full-time student, I’m only committed to spending -on a busy week- twelve hours in either lectures or seminar groups; therefore, I shouldn't have any problem working in 20 hours of work per week to that oh-so-hectic schedule. I'm fully aware that, alongside going along to campus for my twelve hours of teaching time, I must do a lot of extra reading, revising, essay-writing, and researching on my own time, but would having a job really reduce this time? If so, would it have SUCH an effect on my studies? Further, is it then even worth getting a job to save me from that stereotypical-student-nightmare of supermarket own-brand beans?

I'd argue for the job on this one, I’m afraid, and that's not just because I’m slightly high-maintenance either. I don't think that fitting in 20 hours of work into my week would have any great effect; infact, I’d argue it would motivate me more - albeit that that may just be because of my personality (my "self" - that's another topic for another day...) However, I do believe that having something (i.e.: a job) in concurrence with 12 hours of teaching time per week and spending what feels like eternity shackled to a library desk (or, worse, frazzling away a student loan in Starbucks) can only be beneficial to a 19 year old in regards to a) helping organize time, b) giving some sense of purpose to life and c) to help with that slight niggling matter of money!

Or course, there will be (because there always is/are) a person or persons who believe that being a student is a full-time job in itself, and I probably should add that if it were the case that the university were paying me for my "full-time job" then I’d be one of the first to agree with these people on the hard-ships and gruelling hours us students endure [please note the heavy sarcasm]. So, you can probably tell that I don't think that being a student (esp. a second year arts student) is very much like hard work and it's not that I’m exceptionally intelligent or anything along those lines: it's just because that's the truth.

Whatever is the correct answer, if there can be one at all, then I just hope I’m making the right decision by working whilst studying. In all honestly, if I didn't chose to take part-time work then life wouldn't be all that rosy because I’d feel I was struggling to pay my rent and to buy food - unfortunately, I, and copious amounts of other students, am not lucky enough to have parents who could pay these things for me, which really leaves me with no alternative but to work. However, I chose not to dwell on these small matters in life, but to celebrate them and to see the advantages and benefits of being a working class girl stranded in a very middle class world.