Introductory, "What are my chances?!" Post

[johndiligent]

I, too, was surprised by the 60 hour per week assessment, but I guess it depends on what you consider work. I held four to five jobs concurrently while I did my undergraduate degree but many of them were paid by honorarium and are thus difficult to quantify in terms of time commitment.

For instance, I worked as a residence don for two years, which means that I either worked at it all the time or just held a title, depending on how you look at it. Really, it was more like being a parent to over a hundred stressed-out teenagers, which could be every bit as hectic as it sounds. I also worked for various departments and offices as assistant and secretary so many days a week, TA'd, tutored, worked for Campus Health, worked as a program advisor, worked for the student union, interned at a museum, organised conferences, sometimes all at the same time. In terms of take home, I paid for my whole education that way. But if anyone were to ask me how many hours a week I worked, I'd say none. I went to a small LAC, so I guess that was the culture - that the university became your whole life.

[modernity]

If you're referring to my 60 hours I'll tell you how it went. I did it through my freshman-junior year, once senior year came I couldn't pull that off anymore because I had to take upper level courses when they were offered, and I cut back to one job.

I went to school from 730am-1130am, I started my first job at noon and worked til 5, then I went to my second job and worked there from 6-11pm. On the weekends I worked from 10am to 6pm at one job or sometimes I worked 10am to 4pm and then 5 to 9pm at the second one after. I stayed up nights doing my homework/seeing my friends. I rarely had a free day, I usually went for 15 days or so before I had a day off. I didn't have any help from my parents, and I wanted to live a semi comfortable lifestyle (not eating ramen and being able to travel occasionally when I did take time off) so I was willing to do it. Its not for everyone, and yes sometimes my grades suffered. I didn't get to do internships or other things, that now I wish I could have taken advantage of. Looking back I don't even believe I could have done it, so I don't take offense to people who have trouble believing it. Oh and, I didn't go to an ivy league but I did graduate from a tier 1 school if you're curious.

Edited November 3, 2009 by modernity

[captiv8ed]

That is incredibly, modernity.

How many hours did you spend on your homework? How much sleep did you get? When did you do errands?

My hat is off to you for sure!

[LateAntique]

Since people are explaining how they did it, I'll throw my hat in the ring. Working EMS/Fire is a little different than a "regular" job. I would work 12 hour shifts (6p-6a) during the week, generally MWF (that's 36 right there). Depending upon where you're stationed and the night (Mondays are naturally slower than Fridays), you might only run a couple of calls, so I could eat dinner, do homework, and sleep at least a few hours. I typically only sleep 4 hours a night anyway, so it wasn't a huge deal. On the weekends I would always do at least one 24 hour shift. Weekends were sometimes a little more laid back in terms of what we had to do, so I could very easily go into the training room and work on a paper or something. I always always always kept flash cards on me for my Greek class and I'd look at them on our way to the call and our way back so I wasn't wasting any time.

[modernity]

That is incredibly, modernity.

How many hours did you spend on your homework? How much sleep did you get? When did you do errands?

My hat is off to you for sure!

I don't think its that incredible- and I'm not saying it because I want praise- I just want people to know it is entirely possible. Also I know while I was doing that lots of you were working hard on internships, or associations, or working as RA's and other things that probably added up to those sort of hours as well. Like someone else said everyone holds jobs they're just not always considered "work"... I didn't get a lot of sleep, and one of the positions was a managerial position so I could make time for really important errands if I needed to. I would explain further but I prefer some anonymity.

Edited November 3, 2009 by modernity

[captiv8ed]

I am a person who needs 8 hours of sleep, so that is why it seems heroic to me!