According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment to population ratio for college students – which refers to all college students that are currently working – was 44.3% in 2023.
One former and two current Salt Lake Community College students shared their experiences, struggles and advice for balancing academics with professional careers.
Tricio Salgado, an e-Portfolio Lab employee and former SLCC student who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in social work at the University of Utah, said their biggest challenge was finding time for homework.
Salgado, who previously worked as a peer mentor at the Gender & Sexuality Student Resource Center at SLCC and as a custodian at the Northwest Recreation Center in Salt Lake County, further remarked on how understanding employers made a difference in prioritizing their academics.
“They [employers] understood that I was a student and that this [the job] wasn’t my end goal, and that I needed to, like, focus on my studies,” Salgado said.
Salgado wasn’t alone in their sentiment about the importance of understanding employers. Daniel Coronel, an SLCC biology major and employee at the SLCC Redwood Admissions Office, stated that his employers understood his academic goals and would allow him to take days off to focus on exams and catch up on schoolwork.
Coronel also remarked that his biggest challenge was maintaining a focus on academics while not getting distracted by the thought of personal expenses.
“I pay rent, I pay everything,” Coronel said. “And it’s always very hard to keep yourself focused in school when you always have these things pressuring you.”
Personal expenses aren’t the only things competing for space in the lives of working students. Nathan Stevens, a political science major at SLCC and self-employed insurance broker, cited the need to always be reachable by his clients as something that competed for his attention with academics.
Stevens remarked on how his studies during the tail end of the fall semester coincided with the open enrollment period for insurance, which would tend to stretch him thin.
“Those weeks get pretty hectic there … so I’m working probably closer to 40 hours a week then,” Stevens said.
When asked about advice for balancing school with work, Salgado, Coronel, and Stevens conveyed similar ideas. Stevens advised avoiding procrastination, Salgado endorsed the importance of having a structured life, and Coronel suggested beginning each semester in a driven, forward-looking manner.
To learn about job opportunities while attending college, visit SLCC Career Services.
