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A response to “Working class student”

By on September 9, 2009 1:30 am in Letters / 3 comments

 
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I take offense to Chris Schanz’s piece last Wednesday, “I’m a working class student, but at least I’ll be prepared after graduation.”

It is wonderful that Schanz feels that working through college is preparing him for the real world. However, I believe I am going to be well prepared also and I worked my first “real” job this past summer.

Many students that are not employed during college are not wasting their time away. I have friends that are in multiple clubs and organizations. I would argue that those clubs, especially career-related ones, are better preparation for life after college than the typical college student job. A job at McDonald’s won’t really help a future lawyer. However, being involved in College Republicans or College

Democrats or the Pre-Law fraternity will give that student the actual skill set he or she needs to succeed in that field.

Organizations like these provide students with networking opportunities, conferences and a better understanding of the field they want to spend the rest of their life in.

Not having a job while I’m in college doesn’t make me irresponsible or lazy. By being involved in other activities, I am learning the exact skills that Schanz is learning at his job. I must manage my time wisely while balancing 19 credit hours, multiple RSOs and an array of friendships. I build my level of responsibility by being involved in e-board and committees.

I can also manage my money wisely. The money I earned over the summer is more than enough to carry me through the school year, with proper management. I have my budget and I stick to it.

My skills are what got me to Central Michigan and I desire to expand my knowledge, not my pocketbook, these four years.

Stephanie Jaczkowski
Clinton Township junior

 

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  • John Porter

    I take offense to the dig at a McDonald’s worker. As a former employee, and a friend of many current ones, I can tell you that even that job experience can, at times, more adequately prepare oneself for real world tasks ahead. It helps with an array of things such as time management, critical thinking, logic, customer service, and overall rapport building skills.

    To think that a real world job does nothing to prepare someone for the real world is just silly.

  • Pam

    I agree with John. I worked as a cashier, mostly in the drive through, at Burger King during the summers when I worked on my first of two undergraduate degrees. I learned a great deal from that job. To this day I believe one of the most important ones was patience. You deal with a lot of rude people when you work in fast food and being able to stay calm and collected when this occurs is a wonderful skill to carry on for any future job and would be quite an important skill for a lawyer. Also I learned quite well how to handle large amounts of money and to handle it quickly. Not every lawyer has another person who deals with their money for them so being able to handle large amounts of money is another useful skill. You also learn how to multi-task as you are required to keep up with a lot of stuff at once (e.g., taking orders, handling money, handling the orders, keeping your station stocked, keeping the time low for the time it takes individuals to receiver their orders, etc.).

    Now that’s not saying that such a job will prepare you for work in any one field, but as John said it’s silly to think that skills you can learn in job like this wouldn’t carry over and be greatly beneficial. I do not know if there is opportunity here but at my undergraduate school a student could co-op and spend half of the school year on site at a job in their field and only half of the year taking classes. Those students did not have opportunities to be on committees or in clubs because they were not present year round at school, but they still got the training they needed in skills directly related to their field. So just because you are able to get the training in skills you want to cultivate does not require you to be working at a job does not mean that there are not plenty of other ways to obtain the same skill set. Furthermore, simply being a part of an organization does not at all guarantee that you will learn any beneficial skills. You may be more involved than others, but being in an organization does not equal learning skills. Not to mention to believe that you are above and beyond what you believe to not be a “real world” job is demeaning to all of the other people who are able to take advantage of jobs such as those and leave with beneficial skills, and there are many individuals in this world who are not as fortunate as you are to be able to go on to get a better job and are able to survive off of such jobs – I’m sure those people would be quite offended you consider what they are doing not to be the “real world.”

  • JRS

    Stephanie Jaczkowski, a member of multiple clubs and organizations you say. How many of those clubs and organizations have other disgruntled members that could cost you your place in them and your living? Are there democrats in the republican’s club or republican in the democrats club? We all know how well they work together these days. The Pre-Law fraternity sounds like quite the happening crowd, are they by chance criminals in their mix? Is that a pay to play frat? We all know real life involves paying for friends! There is not one club in America that can or will provide skills for “real life” other than talking to people with generally the same interests, likes, dislikes, and opinions as you. Unless of course there is a “We Only Get Along 40% of the Time Club” I haven’t heard about yet.

    Chris as well as John and Pam make good points. There are far more corrupt lawyers and politicians than there are fast food workers. I’ve known janitors that were far more happy with life than any lawyer I have known. Working through college as well as highschool does earn “Life” credits. Like not always getting what you want. Being told what and when to do what needs to be done. If you call in to work you run the risk of losing your job and make no money that day. If you miss a “club” meeting or fraternity outing do you run the same risks? Sometimes friends/dreams have to wait. And paying taxes. At one point I did have friends that were 24 years old and had never payed taxes because they hadn’t ever had a job.

    I hope you enjoy your 19 credits and countless rso’s and friendships. CLUBS DON’T EQUAL LIFE SKILLS. FRATS DON’T EQUAL LIFE SKILLS, COLLEGE CREDITS DON’T EQUAL LIFE SKILLS. Many employers will tell you the first thing you do to a college grad is unteach what they learned in college. I was a college athlete and at the time the NCAA said a scholarship athlete cannot work a job while in season. When I stopped playing due to an injury and left college I did feel like I missed out on allot of skills I could have learned by working.

    I work 2 jobs, have enough credits for a degree but don’t have the time to take all the required nonsense that a degree requires. (Things have to wait). I haven’t seen my best friends in over a month, (friends have to wait). All clubs are is another way to hang out with people who like the same things, not learn about life, so please don’t make fast food sound like it’s nothing and don’t make a clubs and fraternities sound like it is a substitute for a job, they hold no real responsibility. Thank you, THE END!