Work Study

Hi everyone!

It has been a busy second week at Carleton, but I have finally gotten back into my routine after the long winter break. I had a great weekend visiting with an old friend from the Twin Cities; I took them around the Carleton campus and downtown Northfield. We got lunch at Tandem Bagels and hung out at Sayles until it was time to say goodbye. For the rest of the weekend, I mainly relaxed and stayed inside, trying to keep out of the cold weather.

This week, I want to talk about work study, because I think that it’s a great program and one that I personally didn’t know much about upon entering college. Work study is a form of financial aid which allows students to work through the college in order to earn money for tuition. Through work study, there are many jobs that students can receive, and it’s worth mentioning that students can hold more than one job at a time (as long as they are not working more than the maximum eight hours).

When I was given work study, I was nervous about being able to balance a job with my school work. Without having any concept of the workload at Carleton, I thought that it might be difficult to start a new job my first year. After visiting Carleton, however, I learned that campus jobs are common here (the majority of students have them).

When given work study at Carleton, students can fill out a form allowing them to rank their choices and provide helpful information about previous work experience. This helps the school place students in jobs that will be the best fit for them, which also makes the experience much more enjoyable. In my case, I love language and made sure to note that I wanted a job involving writing, which helped me be placed as an admissions blogger.

Because I speak French, I was also assigned to work as an assistant in the Language Center. At the Language Center, I work at the front desk, answering questions and occasionally helping people with French. I also help with planning events that are being held at the Center, as well as other daily tasks. Just to clarify, although I have two jobs, I divide my eight-hour work limit between the two, so having multiple jobs does not mean more hours.

I love both of my jobs, and have been able to balance them nicely with my schoolwork. My supervisors are very accommodating, and are always willing to work around my school schedule. Because these are jobs offered through Carleton, the priority is always academics, meaning that students will never be expected to put their job(s) before their schoolwork. In fact, because supervisors really care about their workers and often check in on them, having a work study job feels like having an additional support system, which is especially nice when first starting school.

For anyone who has the opportunity to get a job freshman year, I would highly recommend it! Even if you are not awarded work study as part of financial aid, you can still get a student job on campus. Also, if you have a job that you don’t like, you can transfer to a different job that you like better. Overall, working at Carleton has been a great experience so far and I am very glad that I have the jobs that I do.

Stay warm this week! It is very cold today here, with a high in the single digits. Because of the cold weather, I have not visited B(arb) much this week, but here is a pretty campus photo in the snow:

Andriana

Andriana is a native of Richmond, VA, and is looking forward to starting her freshman year at Carleton. She is especially excited to experience the Minnesotan Tundra first-hand and learn what the phrase “polar vortex” really means. When Andriana isn’t busy staying warm, you can find her binge-reading, playing music, or watching a favorite movie or show for the umpteenth time. She is hoping to double major in International Relations and English, while also reminding herself to keep an open mind as she begins her college career. Meet the other bloggers!