With the excessive amount of stress that school and homework create, many West High students still find the time to add a job onto their list of priorities. But why do they choose to balance such a swamped schedule?

Many high school and college students know how easy it is to fall behind in classes. Procrastinating is easy. Simply putting one assignment on hold can lead to more assignments stacking up, leaving you stressed out and panicked trying to catch up.

Time as a blooming adolescent is consumed with the responsibility of going to school and having a social life, yet many full-time students still have the time to add a job onto their priority lists. There are many reasons why a teenager takes up a job while still attending school.

Mizelle Mayo, who juggles two jobs while attending West High, says, “Working for what you want instead of asking your parents or having it handed to you is really fulfilling. It gives you a sense of being independent.”

Along with other qualities, independence is an aspect teenagers want to acquire to prove to their peers that they are capable of doing things on their own. Independence gives students a perspective of growing up and being able to provide for themselves without the assistance of others.

When asked what the most stressful part about having a job and going to school, 18 year old sophomore UAA student, Attella Vinnicombe said, “ Well, it depends on what job you have. Mine’s not that hard, so I guess it’s just balancing time and schedules and actually getting up and going and doing each of these things. Once you’ve done like two classes in a day it’s kind of hard to say ‘okay, now I’m going to go to work and do some work there now’. It’s like self-control, trying to stop yourself from skipping out on work just because you don’t feel like it.”