Working hard... or hardly working? - Looking beyond federal work-study funding to pay for school

colleen daly, dynamic, emily myers, exception funding, issue 16, ituala cameron, Leandro Fefer, student working off campus, Work-study, Features - By Leandro Fefer on Thursday, February 2, 2012 - 00:14

Work-Study Student:

Sophomore Ituala Cameron gets her work-study hours at the Leadership, Experience and Programs office (LEAP). Her job as an office assistant entails answering phones, answering questions about campus events and scheduling appointments. “It’s chill; it’s an office job,” Cameron said. “If you want to get active on campus I might not recommend it, but you do learn a lot.”

Cameron explained how as a first-year she met her boss, who she casually calls Eva, at the Work-Study Fair. “I was hired on the spot,” Cameron said. She has worked the same position since her first year and enjoys steady hours as well as a relaxing job that teaches her about the inner workings of how to run events on campus.

Exception Funding Student:

Sophomore Emily Myers considers herself lucky, because when her work study funding runs out part way through the semester, she receives exception funding. As an office assistant at the Department of Human Resources, Myers undertakes 40 hours a week of filing, data entry, scanning and helping students with paperwork. “It’s a good job,” Myers said. “Every major company has a H.R. department, so this job gives me real job experience.” Myers admits that she had it easy when it comes to exception funding, because she works for one of the bigger departments on campus. She explains that larger departments get more exception funding, and she is happy with her job.

Student Working Off Campus:

On top of two work-study jobs, senior Colleen Daly works weekend evenings at Phlight, a Spanish bistro in Uptown Whittier. Daly explains the perks of an outside job as being higher paying. “I make a higher wage and I make tips as a Hostess,” Daly said. Daly also explains how the job she landed was mostly out of luck. “Uptown Whittier is its own little world,” Daly said. “Having an ‘in’ somewhere is pretty much the only way to get a good job. It’s almost all friends and family that work at and own the businesses.” Daly was lucky to have a friend who already worked there and was leaving to help her get the job.

While Daly expressed how much she enjoyed her off-campus work opportunity, she also said that it is more demanding than an on-campus job. “Working on campus can be more flexible,” Daly said. “The campus employers understand that you have deadlines and finals.”