Katelyn Wilburn, Campus Carrier opinions editor
The LifeWorks program at Berry is a way for students to gain professional development in their area of study, as well as earn cash on the side. One signifigant problem students face with LifeWorks is the limit on hours. To put this in perspective, freshman are allowed 10 hours, and upperclassman are allowed 12 hours. With the low amount of work hours delegated to each student, it is apparent that LifeWorks has lost some value, as it makes it more difficult for students to support personal needs through the help of Berry, an impending desire to grow within multiple professional settings and a deterrence of important time-management lessons. The limit for hours worked per student on campus should be higher, especially if the job takes more than the outlandish time given to finish.
The first issue when it comes to the cap on hours is the financial struggle. Although Berry’s LifeWorks model is focused on professional development, students still have substantial worries about their paychecks. With $9.25 being the starting pay and underclassmen only allowed 10 hours a week, $92.50 is quite a modest paycheck for someone in need of textbooks, school supplies and enough cash to save for emergencies. Even with freshman getting an extra two hours added to the paid time, the $18.50 doesn’t make a ground-breaking difference in a student’s life. Affording not only necessities, but also the funds to partake in community events is an important aspect of being in college.
Even with these restraints, there are other ways for students to try and fill this gap in pay, like making money off campus. However, although college students can work more hours for higher pay at a retail store or fast-food restaurant, there are many issues with this concept. First off, the jobs offered to students off campus don’t strive towards development in a specific area of study. Although teaching other valuable lessons, an off-campus job doesn’t give our students’ resumes the same appealing look. Another issue with off-campus jobs is that they are, well, off campus. Many students attending Berry don’t own vehicles and often rely on their LifeWorks job as their sole source of income during the semester. If a student’s car is at the mechanic, or if they are attempting to save and purchase a car of their own, wouldn’t it be helpful if they were allowed to work the extra hours when possible?
Another question to ponder is what exactly happens when students must give up one of their multiple jobs they have on campus? One focus Berry strives to accomplish is sending off their students to the workforce or graduate programs with a diverse resume. To get a higher level job for a specific area in LifeWorks, it takes time to grow within a team, and work towards a pre-professional position. If students primarily focus on one job at a time, they risk losing a chance to receive the promotion they have been aiming for by accepting a job that meets another need in their area of study. If there was a highe hourr threshold for each individual, pursuing diverse opportunities could make an impressive impact on future resumes.
Along the way in college, one of the many life lessons students are supposed to learn is time management skills. From studying to hanging out with friends, learning the boundaries between work, play and rest is important for development after college. Leaving a low cap on hours allowed to work might keep students from overworking themselves and not having time for studies, but it will also prevent them from making mistakes and learning much needed lessons. With an understandment for incoming students’ restrictions, there still should be reconsideration on the hourly limit for upperclassmen. This would let the student body that is accumstomed to a college atmosphere face new and important challenges in a safe space. Although there would be obvious hiccups with student-work life balance, the entire process of college is to teach young adults how to make their own choices. If Berry continues to make this choice for students, it could interfere with the carefully curated discipline our college has worked on producing.
Obviously, it would be ridiculous if there were no restraints on working hours, as the focus of Berry College is for students to earn their degree in a healthy environment. Nonetheless, if the LifeWorks model focused on lessening the hard limit given and granting a new understanding of each students’ individual needs, this would signifigantly improve the Berry Journey from start to end. Every student is on a different path, and Berry needs to accommodate for individual needs, so that our education and work experience is no only stress-free, but unique to our own dispositions.