By Marley Hinrichs

I went a little crazy after I broke up with my high school boyfriend. I went all in on sorority girl life, partying every chance I got and not worrying too much about my financial future. My budget spreadsheet at the end of the semester, however, brought me to a rude awakening. I realized that the sorority was hemorrhaging money from my financial aid and my father’s  small contributions, and even dropping the sorority would only let me break even, without allowing monetary growth.

It was hard to accept that I needed to pick up a second job on top of my student work position, and I was embarrassed to be less well-off than a lot of the other girls I knew. Either way, I moved forward: I disaffiliated from Greek life, and dropped off an application at a downtown restaurant. Getting that server job ended up being a crucial part of my personal development, and if more people committed to working part-time during college, they would be far more fulfilled from the invaluable experience the service industry provides. 

When I first started at the restaurant, I was confronted with a new challenge: I had to enter this real-world work environment and successfully assimilate. If I hadn’t sought out this job, I would have only put off this challenge for after graduation-when the stakes are much higher. Instead, I took the challenge head-on, and put a lot of energy into being a good and likeable coworker. I learned the ins and outs of the restaurant, and even began to make friends. 

The politics of the restaurant were a separate, equally important learning curve. I learned what an asset my likability was. If I was kind to my coworkers and reliable to the restaurant, people wouldn’t get too mad when I had to call out or got a shift they wanted.  Some of the things I encountered are specific to the service industry, such as how to successfully take care of a table, but many of them are widely applicable, such as how to not cry when someone yells at you. Not only do I have skill set for a restaurant jobv to fall back on in case my degree doesn’t work out, but I’ve also developed “soft skills” that only come from hands-on work.

A deep understanding of money also only comes from hands-on experience. My student jobs were so easy that they barely felt real, and the money also began to feel arbitrary. In a restaurant, however, your money is very clearly correlated to how often and how well you work. At the end of the night you get a stack of cash, and the more people like you and the better your work is, the more cash is in that stack. If you don’t go in or give away your shift, that cash doesn’t come to you. When you spend your money, you begin to think of it in terms of the hours you worked for it.

Even though I have help with money from my family and the state, making my own money gave me a much greater stake in my lifestyle. If I have a solid awareness of the money coming in and out of my possession, I’m more likely to be responsible with it. Not only did this improve my spending habits, but it also made me more grateful for the money I have. 

My lifestyle also changed by becoming a more focused person. The best money comes on weekends, which means I’d rather be at the restaurant than partying. My job began to keep me out of trouble, simply because I didn’t have time to make bad decisions. This was a sad development at first, but it screwed my head tighter on my shoulders and gave me the perspective to understand its benefits.

None of this is to say that working during school is easy. It isn’t easy, and many would argue that school is all you should be focusing on if you can afford it. Working may pull some focus from your studies, but college is just as much about developing as a person and a professional as it is about your classes. Instead of thinking of it as a detraction from my studies, I think of it as an experiential supplement to what I learn in the classroom. 

Going from a downtown bar patron to a downtown server has had its ups and downs. I’ve been rushed on deadlines at times, and my old sorority sisters sometimes don’t make eye contact with me when I have to serve them. However, it always worked out. I’ve adapted with a stronger work ethic, and that makes me feel fulfilled enough to make up for anything negative about my experience.