With the fall semester in full swing, college students everywhere are beginning the intricate balancing act of school, a social life and sometimes sleep. As if those things aren’t tiring enough, many students need to add a part-time job.
Pursuing a higher education can be a huge financial burden, which means for many students, working part-time is not an option — it’s a necessity.
While earning some money to support your livelihood is rewarding in many ways, monetary benefits are not the only gains one can find in the world of employment.
For the majority of college students, employment means exploring the deep, dark, soul-crushing abyss that is the service industry, but this isn’t always such a bad thing.
Many people find service industry jobs to be lowly, dirty and simplistic. I’ve encountered peers who avoid these jobs at all costs.
Students with slightly comfier financial situations might not see the need to work at all, instead choosing to focus on schoolwork so they can graduate from college and start making the big bucks later in life.
That’s what everyone wants, right?
It’s true that having work outside of schoolwork puts strain on academic success, but the lessons learned from being a student employed in the service industry cannot be learned from simply going to school.
Unfortunately, LSU does not offer the course “A Customer Just Yelled At Me For Something I Didn’t Do And I Had To Smile And Apologize 1001” or “I Just Worked A Double Shift And I’m Pretty Sure My Feet Are Bleeding 3364.”
Regardless of whether or not you need the money, if you’re a college student, you should get some experience in the service industry. The skills learned at these jobs are essential for all paths of life and will be required for any future career. They are virtues that can only be acquired through getting your hands dirty, literally and figuratively.
In the service industry, dealing with other people is a huge part of the job. Whether it’s a difficult coworker or an unnecessarily rude customer, the service industry has taught me that I’m not entitled to anything, including other people’s respect.
It’s an incredibly humbling experience, but it doesn’t come about immediately. It takes time, patience, and a positive attitude.
No, not every customer I interact with will say, “thank you,” or even look me in the eye, but I’ll still do my job with a genuine smile on my face.
When a customer does come along who smiles back, says “I appreciate you,” or even puts a dollar in the tip jar without saying a word, I know that there are people out there who respect what I do not only as a worker, but also a student and human being.
Whether you’re getting dirty mop water all over your shoes, lettuce in your hair, or blatantly being disrespected and talked down to, there’s something about finishing up a day at work that’s truly rewarding. Nothing feels better than picking up a paycheck knowing you worked your ass off for it, regardless of how frustrating and stressful the past two weeks of your life were.
Once you know how difficult it can be having a job that involves getting flecks of mayonnaise on your face, it’s easier to understand why people go to school. We do it in hopes that someday we’ll find a career we are passionate about; one that hopefully doesn’t involve washing dishes.
Shirin Chowdhury is a 20-year-old English Literature junior from Manhattan, Kansas.