Demanding jobs give helpful skills

By Tyler Wooley

Besides schoolwork, students with high-responsibility jobs also face unique struggles.

With jobs such as managers at establishments, students often have less time for schoolwork.

“It causes me to be extremely tired in class and sometimes miss out on review sessions,” said Kayla Sprayberry, a junior mathematics and computer science double major from Ashland.

Sprayberry works 40 to 50 hours every week as a team leader with Sodexo, which can affect other things, also.

“I have caught myself doing homework in my car before class,” Sprayberry said. “Making sure I eat is also affected because I forget to.”

“It builds pressure to your everyday schedule, but also teaches time management skills,” she said.

Sprayberry’s situation is not an unfamiliar one. Destiny Hollis, a freshman business major from Gulf Shores, also has difficulties finding time.

Hollis works 20 to 25 hours a week as shift manager for Domino’s Pizza, is a member of Kappa Delta sorority and holds the position of publicity chair for Freshman Forum.

“I couldn’t go home for Christmas break,” Hollis said. “I had to stay and work.”

Hollis said that she got to spend some time with her family for the holidays, but never actually went home.

“My parents understood,” Hollis said.

I know how these two feel. I work as an assistant manager for Piggly Wiggly.

I work between 30 and 40 hours every week, which barely leaves me enough time to finish my schoolwork.

Finding time to do most anything requires planning weeks in advance, requesting a day off and hoping that the other two managers can work for me.

Most days I get home late, and some days I have to leave home before my wife even thinks about waking up.

There is a specific set of issues for students who have these jobs, but not all of them are bad.

“I am blessed to have a catering job that has given me the opportunity to meet so many types of people and have conversations that have led to internship offers,” Sprayberry said.

It is not easy to get and keep a job like this, especially while being enrolled in school.

The opportunity to have a job with high expectations is time-consuming and can take a lot of management skills, but the lessons it teaches will have a lasting impact.

“Anyone who has a manager-type job, I have to look up to them,” Hollis said.

Tyler Wooley is a junior multimedia journalism major from Gulf Shores.