It’s 7:45 am, the first rays of sun start breaking through the shades of the window. Another day of running around like a footless chicken. Anywhere from 8 am to 12:30pm, students will sit online or in a classroom and cram knowledge into the squishy brain in between their ears. Throughout the day, stress piles with more homework and assignments burying students up to their eyebrows with information to digest and tears. 

After school comes the next step of the day for the working student. Some students don’t even have time to eat before their shifts start, as some students are beginning work now as early as 1 pm due to the new hybrid schedule. Some students work late into the night and sacrifice precious hours of sleep. Some people may be questioning why they do it, why put themselves through the hours while balancing high school? Well, the simple answer is that they like working. In a poll sent out to Grayslake Central students, 88.9% said that they like working. Students answering the poll went on to say that work made them feel accomplished and that some of them really need the money. 

Problems have still occurred for many working students when it comes to balancing work and school. From the poll, 33.3% of students claim that teachers are not understanding when it comes to working students. The expectation for students is astronomical, and the students are crumbling like gluten free bread. Students are still adamant that school is more important than work, but students also have realized that work is preparing them for the future. Furthering education usually costs money, and students need to work to make the money for their life long careers. 

Students need to work to find what they love and want to do. These part-time jobs can spark a passion and help students to realize what skills they like to use and what future careers will emphasize those. 

Teachers need to respect that students’ jobs are really important and are helping them to take the next step for their future. It is not that students don’t care about school, it’s that their priorities are changing. It would benefit a lot of students if teachers became more willing to give extensions on certain assignments this will give the students more time to balance their school life and work life while keeping a positive mental state.