99.9 percent of all U.S. businesses are small businesses, and many students at Athens Drive work for or own a small business. Although some of these businesses are very successful or still on the rise, that doesn’t come without struggle.
Students at Athens who work for a family business often find themselves struggling to even get to school because of late nights working; in return their grades deteriorate. Students with small businesses often put a lot on their plate, having to often help manage their family business and don’t have enough time to do school work, homework, or participate in extracurricular activities; which can hurt their chances of getting into college. Rodriguez’ day starts at around 6 a.m. to get up for school and gets out at 2:18 p.m. Right after school he has to report to the commissary in order to prepare food for his family’s food truck and after, drive directly to the event of the day. After the event, he gets back to the commissary at around 10 p.m. and ends his day fully at 12-1 a.m.
“Working for my parents has taught me lessons, there were ups and downs. There have been school nights where I go to sleep at two or three a.m. and I didn’t have enough time to finish my assignments. It was tiring but I think it’s definitely worth it,” said Damian Rodriguez, freshman.
On the other hand, some students who work for themselves have found that it has improved their relationship with school and mental health. This is because they are able to get tasks done on their own time without having a manager or boss dictating their schedule.
“It’s kind of improved my mental health, now that I’m able to make my own schedule and my own money I don’t have to stress about getting to work after school or stress about what shifts I have to cover,” said Ahmad Watson, junior.
Lots of students have figured out that planning a schedule along with managing time have been a priority for balancing out their work/ school life.According to Start Up Avant, business and school should be a balance as long as priorities are set straight and time management is a factor.
There are two sides of the spectrum within the work life of full time students, some have struggled to keep a balance between the two and some love it and claim that it has bettered their grades and involvement within school. Students are hard workers who strive for a good education while trying to make money and can be affected in different ways with balancing these two goals.
