I did a poll with students attending Anoka- Ramsey Community College regarding working and attending school. I am sure the poll would have been much different if I were doing it at a university, seeing as how most people who do go to community college work. I found that 20 out of the 50 people I surveyed had a job. 10 % of those people had full time jobs. Most of the students that I surveyed said that having a job while attending college has made keeping up with there classes and grades much harder. I also found out that those who have to have a full time job while attending ARCC end up attending college much longer than those who don’t. It takes them twice as long because they don’t have as much time to figure in there schedule as someone without a job or just a part - time job.
I also found that college students with a job are twice as more stressed out than students without jobs. I am one of the students that has to work a full time job and attend school. I can say for myself that working a full time job and making time to do my school work is very hard. I chose internet classes because it makes working and attending school a little easier than having to attend class because my work schedule is very different from week to week. I could say that if I didn’t have to have a full time job I would probably be doing very well in all my classes and I would have enough time to do classes on campus rather than internet classes.
I also found in this poll that most students must have a job in order to actually pay for their schooling. Those who aren’t able to get financial aid, must hold a part- time or full-time job just to receive their education. That makes it a lot harder knowing you are paying for something that you cannot put full time into. I found that 77% of the people that took the poll who are working while attending school are working to either pay for their classes or to pay off student loans they took out for their classes. Those who are not working either have financial aid paying for their classes or their parents have helped pay for their classes.
I learned that I am not the only one that has to work a full time job and still try and find time to get my schooling in. Most students that attended ARCC are just like me. I also realized that not everyone is working to pay their own bills, but to get their education in as well. This poll helped me realize that students that attend ARCC do have a lot more to accomplish because they are working and attending school, which can be a very difficult task to do. I also did not realize that a lot of the students who are not working don’t have student loans to pay or bills to pay.
