Christopher Cedillo
Professor Slobod
English 113B
9 January 2012
Time
Management
A
lot of times you hear the expression, “Do one or the other”, so you can focus
on one thing. What people do not realize is that both can be done at the same
time, it just takes a little bit of time management and organization to balance
these things out. “Time is a special resource that you cannot store or save for
later use”(Sasson). Working and going to school is one of the things many
people cannot do. Work is necessary for some because they need the money to pay
for college. However, many teens in high school think it is impossible to work
and do well in school. They seem to not have time to do homework, or study
during the week while working. All this however can be accomplished and done
when balanced proportionally. Working and being a good student is possible for
teens when they balance the two, and manage their time correctly because teens
have free time that could be used productively. Doing so, teens acquire the
knowledge of time management, responsibility and the worth of a dollar.
What
is time management? How can it be useful to someone? Time management is
organizing ones schedule of the day, week, month, etc. according to the things
they have to do. Time management can be a useful tool when balancing school and
work. Many teens waste countless hours per week watching TV, playing video games,
on the phone or doing nothing after school. These hours could be spent wisely
working at a job, that teaches responsibility and the value of a dollar.
Wasting hours on video games and TV leave you nothing but a headache. Teenagers
spend an average of 20 hours a week on electronics before and afterschool.
These hours could be used productively by going to work and saving up money for
big expenses, such as college or a car.
Jobs
help people in many ways. It helps people build responsibility and new skills.
Skills that can be used everyday, such as communication skills, being on time,
and handling money. It also provides people money so that they can either save it
wisely or spend it all. In these days, many things are really expensive and not
affordable to many. One of the big expenses people go through is paying for
college. College is really expensive and with more and more budget cuts, it as
hard for parents themselves to pay for college. Many young adults in college
sometimes do not appreciate their education because they had their parents pay
for it and working makes them realize the value of a dollar. Having teens work
they learn the value of a dollar at a younger age is important because by the
time there in college, they know the value of their education.
Teens
working to help pay for their college, makes them responsible because they
learn the value of their education and the job. A minimum waged job is not
something easy nor is it something you want to do for the rest of your life. A
minimum waged job is a job that most people are not willing to do. It’s usually
a fast paced job with working conditions that are not really safe. In Ashley
Halls student essay, Broke and bored: The Summer Job, one of the jobs she talks
about is at a restaurant whose working conditions were not to well. “Big Boy
restaurants are all equipped not only with buffets, germ cesspools, and blue
hair, but also with very slippery tile floors”(Hall). Ashley Halls’
interpretation of Bob’s Big Boy is an example of how working conditions are
when receiving minimum wage. Other fast food places, such as McDonalds could be
as bad as Big Boys or even worse. “Many low-level jobs within the service
industry do not require a great deal of skill, but they are sometimes
monotonous and entail manual labor. Teens might have to perform unpleasant
tasks, such as cleaning bathrooms or taking out trash, for these jobs”(Latzko).
These jobs that people do not want to do, are not safe for teenagers because it
puts in a position where they could get injured at anytime.
Not
all jobs however are awful and dangerous. There are other jobs teens can get
that are less stressing, and give you more money. A job that mostly any teen
can get is being a tutor. Mostly all school offer tutoring programs where
teenagers tutor other kids and get paid. All schools have some kind of
educational program where teenagers have the chance to make a buck. These easy
jobs are flexible with school schedules and help you raise some money.
One
of the easiest jobs I had in high school was babysitting two times during the
week for moms, friends’ children. The
two kids were age ten and seven. They liked to play with their Legos and watch TV
but homework came first. I sat with them at the table helping them with their
homework and sometimes I was able to finish mine. Even though I got five dollars
an hour, I liked it because I was able to balance my schoolwork and my job at
the same time. I also knew other friends that would tutor at school and would
get money for it. Most school jobs are easy to attain and are flexible with
school hours.
Not all jobs however are easy to manage right
away. Other jobs take up more time, which requires better use of time
productively. Time consuming jobs at restaurants like Ashley Hall mentioned
about Big Boy, take up a lot of hours throughout the day. This is why many
teenagers who work in high school end up slacking off in school. They put so much time into their job that
they forget about the most important job of all, their education. They get too
overwhelmed with work that they don’t feel like doing homework or studying for
the next exam. “Teenagers working more than 20 hours a week were more likely to
engage in substance abuse and have lower grade point averages”(Walker). There
are not that many hours during the week and with teenagers working over twenty
hours, it is hard for them to get homework done, sleep or even have time to
rest.
Teenagers
slack off because they begin to love making money and forget about school. They
seam to not care about school anymore because they are making money. “Students who
work more than 20 hours a week have grade point averages that are lower than
other students who work 10 or fewer hours a week”(Walker). At times teenagers drop out because they feel
like school is not going to get them anywhere and a job is. The low paying jobs
however, are not enough to live the rest of your life off. They think the money they are earning is
great, but its no enough to succeed and live your life off. Also, “Research
suggests that substance abuse is higher for students who work 20 or more hours
per week”(Walker). Working and going to school can cause any person to get
stressed. Teenagers working so many hours and balancing school, tend to fall
into the use alcoholic substances, cigarettes or drugs because they are under
constant stress.
Working
in high school is good preparation for when you have to work in college. Jobs
teach teens how to effectively manage finances. Even if the teen is simply
using their earnings to pay for their own expenses, they will learn to budget
between clothes, movies, and car expenses. They work off to pay expenses, such
as gas, rent, phone bill etc. Working in high school is an advantage when
working in college because you already have an idea of the schedule you need to do when balancing the
two. Teens also “gain useful, marketable skills such as improving their
communication, learning how to handle people, developing interview skills and
filling out job applications”(Walker). Finding a job is easier when you have a
basic idea of the requirements jobs look for. Working in high school and then
transitioning to college is not overwhelming anymore because the skills you
learned before to balance out your time can now be used in college.
When
getting a job, you are taking the first steps towards responsibility, which
will help you in college and as an adult. You will learn things like the
importance of being on time, new skills, and the importance of earning a
dollar. You begin to realize the value of other things as well. Learning how to
balance work and school is possible for any teenager. All this can be done with
a little bit of time management and organization.
Money
is what makes the world go around, but when used improperly it causes peoples
lives to go down the drain. An education makes a person acquire the knowledge
to live better and have a better, less stressing and secure job in the future.
Both earning money at a job and going to school to get a better job, can be
hard to balance with ought time management. Money can sometimes suck a person into
dropping out of school and working forever because they feel like they cannot
do both. Not learning the proper skills as a teenager on how to handle time and
balancing work and school can be really heavy to someone new. Teenagers are
able to do both when they learn to use time management efficiently. “Through
right time management, you can “create” the time you need, and not just wait
for it to come. By planning your time wisely, you will have more time to do
more things”(Sasson). Teenagers learn many responsibilities when they balance
school and work. With this knowledge and experience they become hard working
and responsible adults.
Works
Cited
Hall,
Ashley. "Student Essay: Broke and Bored: The Summer Job." Writing
with a Thesis. By
Sarah E. Skwire and David Skwire.
Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2011. 102-03. Print.
Latzko, Laura. "What Jobs Can
Teenagers Have? | EHow.com." EHow | How to Videos, Articles
&
More - Discover the Expert in You. | EHow.com. 16 Feb. 2011. Web.
07 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.ehow.com/info_7946663_jobs-can-teenagers.html>.
Sasson, Remez. "Importance of Time
Management." Self Improvement - Spiritual Growth –
Inner
Peace - SuccessConsciousness. 20 May 2008. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.successconsciousness.com/blog/time-management/importance-of-time-
management/>.
Walker, Rosemarie. "Teenagers and
Part-Time Jobs: Benefits, Drawbacks and Tips «." 29 Apr.
2011.
Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://middleearthnj.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/teenagers-
and-part-time-jobs-benefits-drawbacks-and-tips/>.
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