Student Engagement in College

Many SFSU students are not on track to graduate in four years because they are not making an effort to properly time manage. In order to graduate on time and still be able to commit to these outside responsibilities like work for example, one needs to manage their time so they are not pushing schoolwork down to the bottom of their priority list. The result of poor time management could mean extra semesters spent retaking failed classes and therefore; taking more money from one’s pocket or adding more to one’s student debt.

With the increasing price of tuition and on-campus housing costs, it is very common for a student to get a part time job during the school year.This decision to get a job could either be a very bad one or good one depending on how one manages their time and whether or not one keeps their priorities in check.

Around 200 students’ responses were recorded from interviews focused on the struggles students have come across since being in college. One interview that stood out the most was with Adelina Tirado, who is attending her fourth year at San Francisco State University. She discussed the mistakes she made that caused her to be behind on her credits. She took on the responsibility of a part time job to help pay for her tuition. In her interview she stated,”The thing that messed with my graduation time was the fact that I became a part time student instead of full time student since I needed to work more and make money.” This is a perfect example of poor time management and confusing priorities.In addition to Adelina, I myself have struggled with poor time management. I work more than I spend time studying and I can already see it affecting both my grades and my mental and physical health. I find myself skipping out on assignments due to overworking myself and putting work as my main priority. I will end up having to retake some of these classes in the future and adding more time to my years spent in college. This in the long run will be more detrimental, money-wise, than not working as much during the school years. By adjusting my availability and reducing the number of hours i work a week I will be able to really focus on school work and give it my full attention. By doing this I hope to graduate in four years. Lastly, another example from an interview with Adam Wilson, a fellow student at San Francisco State University, shows how working can push schoolwork to the bottom of one’s priority list. In his interview he stated,”After I got my job I had to sacrifice school work for income and it kinda showed in my grades.” Adam’s priorities were mixed up when he added a job into the mix. Working and attending school at the same time are two very big responsibilities to take on.

No one is perfect when it comes to time management. I am trying to find a solution to overworking oneself due to poor time management and taking on too many hours as a student. I want to get as much as I can out of my experience here at SFSU and I already see myself becoming less engaged due to working. For my engagement project I decided to work on my time management and decrease the amount of hours I work per week. So far, I have released many of my shifts during the week so I am not working Monday through Friday. I have also talked to my manager and asked to decrease my hours. This has already started to relieve my stress and give me more time to put more effort into my studies.

Working on my time management and decreasing the number of hours I work in a week was a lot harder than i thought it would be. Due to my lack of motivation and inability to truly see the purpose of managing my time better, it was hard for me to really step up and try. Over the past couple of weeks I have definitely enjoyed working on this project. It has helped me both mentally and physically to drop shifts and focus on how I spend my free time. I have decreased my availability to only three times a week and I no longer work on Sunday nights. Because I no longer work on Sunday nights, I now have the day to plan my week and get myself situated for the upcoming tests and assignments

I realized after doing this project, that I put making money and working over my studies a lot more than I thought I did. I found that I would rather skip class to make more money or to work later hours even though I had homework to do that night. I just enjoyed working and couldn’t control myself when it came to taking extra shifts to get the extra money. This degree will be way more important in the future than the extra 200 dollars I could make by picking up an extra shift or two.I now know that it is way more important to be focusing on my studies instead of working.

After completing this engagement project, I believe that helping students who need to keep a job while also attending school will be both beneficial towards the school and the student. The school would have a new program to draw students in and to also encourage them to continue attending. The students would have tools to help them continue their education without the stress of financial worries and also not have to drop out due to insufficient funds.

In conclusion, I would like to continue managing my work schedule making sure to not overdue or overestimate the amount of hours I can work per week. Through this engagement project I have learned that making money right now is far less important than getting an education. By getting an education right now I will be able to start a career and make more money once I have graduated. This upcoming week I am only going to be working two days out of the seven. Even though I love making money and going to work often, I am already less stressed starting this week knowing I will not be overwhelmed with too much on my plate.

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