In the Words of the Boy Who Never Grew Up…

I never actually thought Peter Pan‘s life philosophy would resonate with me so much.

I wish I could never grow up. If only Neverland were a real place. Being a grown-up is not all the glitz and glamour I’d imagined as a child. I have never realized this more than at this stage of my life. I feel like I’m constantly being weighed down by bills, bills, bills. Life was so much easier when you lived at home and didn’t have to worry about any bills, that was your parents responsibility.

The most painful realization I’ve recently come to: the worst is yet to come. When I fully enter the real world (no, I wouldn’t exactly say I’m in it 100% yet), I’ll have school loans to pay back, health insurance, car insurance, cell phone bills, rent, the list goes on and on.

Here’s my most recent fantasy: staying in college forever.

However, that’s not realistic and soon I’ll be a real-life grown-up. Which means that while the bills stack up now, someday soon there will be many more, so I might as well enjoy it while it lasts!

Word from the Wise

Nicole Stoecken with her husband, Andy, and daughter, Emma (2012).

Nicole Stoecken is currently a first-year pediatric resident at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa. She is a University of Iowa graduate who completed her degree in December of 2007. During college, Nicole was a completely independent students who took a very small amount of student loans, with the exception of her first year of college. How did she do this you ask?

You’ll have to listen here to find out:

Student Organizations, Work, School…the Work is Never Done

(See Just a Good Time, or a Full-Time Job to learn more about Alyssa)

Alyssa works to support herself as an independent, however, she is still a full-time college student, which isn’t always as easy as it seems.

“Time management is a major factor in staying on top of my schoolwork, and it isn’t always a component that I succeed at,” she said.

Throw in one more thing Alyssa invests time in, she is a committee member on the student organization Dance Marathon. She attends weekly meetings for her committee and monthly general dancer meetings.

Dance Marathon is a nonprofit student organization at the University of Iowa that supports children with cancer. They do fundraising, with all profits going to the kids and their families, and also hold events leading up to the “Big Event” in February.

“Sure Dance Marathon isn’t something I have to be involved in, and it’s just one more weekly event taking up time, but it is something I really enjoy and the kids who benefit from it are more important than me having a few minutes to sit down and watch TV. It’s a night of working that I gladly give up.”

“College really has been like a full-time job for me when you consider everything that I have going on on a regular basis. It’s crazy, but honestly, if I didn’t have to work I’d be bored! I really can’t complain.”

Just a Good Time, or a Full-Time Job?

BY RACHEL ROTH

IOWA CITY—A survey conducted of ten University of Iowa students found that seven out of ten students have part-time jobs; however, of those seven students, only two of them were completely independent from their parents. The other students involved in the survey have parents who pay either their rent, their tuition, or in some cases even both.

It is slightly staggering to think that of ten students, only two of them are not dependent on their parents. This is, however, a growing trend among college students. Many of them have parents who are willing to take out loans in order to pay for their children’s school. It is a “I want my children to have the things I never had” mentality.

“I don’t know how I would do it if my parents didn’t pay for my rent,” said Ashlee Venema, a junior at the University of Iowa. “I put a lot of time into my schoolwork, and I know that I would not be able to support myself and be a full-time student if that were the situation I was put in.”

Alyssa Langan, also a junior at the university, currently works three jobs and takes out student loans to support herself.

“It gets really tough sometimes when I’m scraping for money and know that my rent is due soon. And I know a lot of people just take out loans to cover things like rent, but loans are something you have to pay back, which also makes it difficult,” said Alyssa.

She Works Hard for Her Money

Along with being a full-time student, Alyssa also works as a cashier at the Iowa Memorial Union, is a sales associate at Express in Coralville, and also works at the UI Foundation as a telefund specialist.

“My weekly schedule is hectic,” said Alyssa. “I rarely have time to just sit at my house with my roommates. If I’m not at class or working one of my jobs, I’m usually at the library trying to stay caught up on schoolwork.”

Langan’s schedule on an average day requires her to either be at work or in class for 75% of the day.

On the weekends, Langan usually pulls double duty, working at least two of her jobs a day.

Sunday her schedule usually is as follows: work at Express open until 2:30 p.m. After working at Express, Alyssa usually works at Telefund from 4:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. After work she often heads to the library to find time to work on homework.

“She works like a fool,” said Alyssa’s roommate, Jenna Lensmeyer. “We hardly see her. How she has any social life sometimes mystifies us.”

Being a Grown-Up

A lot of college students are forced to ‘grow up’ a lot earlier than other students. For those who are on their own through college this is the ultimate truth.

“I am the definition of poor college student,” said Alyssa. “I feel like all I do is work and yet somehow I can’t seem to actually save any money. It’s pretty depressing.”

On top of paying $500 per month in rent, a steep price thanks to Iowa City’s cost of living, Alyssa also has countless other bills to pay, much like many other students. She pays rent, credit card bills, school bills, and regular living expenses like water, electric, food, clothing, etc.

“Sometimes it gets really hard. Like my roommates will say they’re going to go do something and I have to weigh whether it’s worth spending my money because I know that I have to pay rent soon,” Alyssa says of her roommates, who are financially dependent upon their parents.

So the next time you hear someone say “College students complain so much; college is the best and easiest time in your life,” think of Alyssa, and other students like her, where college isn’t always “just a good time,” but in fact just surviving can be hard work.

A Day in The Life: Starring Me

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post (see Welcome! post), I am a full-time student and am dependent upon myself financially. This means that I spend nearly all of my time outside of class at Bob’s Your Uncle (BYU).

Let me explain just how literally I mean all of my time: On Wednesdays I have one class from 3:30-5:20. Yesterday (Wednesday), my boss scheduled me to manage the restaurant from 10:30 until 2:30, at which time I had to leave for class, and then to come back and manage from 6:00 until 10:00. Now, besides the fact that this schedule makes for a very long day, it also makes for a stressful week when homework is a factor.

This is where I struggle the most: time management! When spending literally an entire day at work and in class, the last thing I want to do when finally returning home twelve hours later is sit down to do homework.

I also really enjoy having a social life, as I know most people do. This is another difficult part of being a full-time student and working to support yourself and spending time with friends but also making time for my family. This is not me trying to say “Woe is me, I have a horrible life,” anyone who knows me knows that that couldn’t be further from the truth, but sometimes all of these factors working together make for stressful times!

My question is, how do other people in my situation successfully manage all of their time and tasks without stressing to the max? Maybe I have the answer – sleep deprivation!