Balancing work and school can be difficult. Finding a good job that can fit your schedule well and with your extra curricular activities in school sports or clubs is crucial. Time management is a key you have to learn if you are occupying yourself with so many things throughout the day. In order to keep up with classwork and homework it is important that you get enough sleep and eat properly in order to stay healthy and be able to stay motivated in completing your daily tasks.

Recently I have discovered that any students who have jobs and need community service hours can now put in their work hours to count as community service hours for Bright Futures. This can help any students when wanting to apply for financial aid and needing service hours but cannot find the time because of work, thanks to governor Ron DeSantis who has signed in house bill 461 allowing this on June 27, 2022 . Although this does not apply for our district’s 20 hour graduation requirement. 

It is important to have work experience because it can be very helpful in the future. Having experience in any type of work environment is good, especially when trying to understand how it is in the “real world.” Understanding basic customer service skills and being able to practice and use those skills early on can be beneficial when trying to find a good job. Having these customer service skills is what jobs look for and having experience is also important. Although, just because you are able to find time for school and a job, it is also important to remember to have fun and enjoy your high school years. Participating and being more involved in extracurricular activities is very important and being able to fit that in also is crucial. 

Calendars and planners are good for organizing and keeping you on task throughout the day because sometimes relying on memory is not the best option since you could get distracted or forget. Daisy Mariano, a freshman in college, works a part-time job at Publix and she has started working there since she was Sophomore in high school. She was able to balance both school and work and she states that having a small white board on her wall helped a lot because she was able to write what tasks she had to complete throughout the day and be able to get them done. Daisy states that she made sure to work after school and on weekends, even so she also made time to spend time with friends & family and she made some time to take care of herself and get her homework done.

Planning ahead is the key to balancing work and school. When planning ahead you are able to make sure you are prepared for whatever the day has in store for you. Setting goals for yourself to accomplish is also important and is needed to become successful. But one thing you always have to watch out for is making sure you don’t overload yourself with lots of work and make sure you stay healthy and remember to always put yourself first.