Walking through campus, it feels like everyone is talking about work. Not homework. Not exams. Work. Someone rushing to a shift after class, someone answering messages during lunch, someone talking about an internship, a small business, a side hustle, something. At UPR, being a student rarely means just being a student anymore. Somewhere along the way, college started feeling less like a phase of life and more like something you have to manage carefully, like a schedule that never really ends.
Classes, jobs, internships, organizations, personal projects — everything seems to happen all at once. And most of the time, it’s not because people want to be busy. It’s because they have to be. Paying for gas, food, materials, helping at home, saving money. Independence sounds nice until you realize how much work it actually takes.
But at the same time, there’s also this weird pride in being busy. We talk about our schedules like badges of honor.
You hear it everywhere.
“I didn’t sleep.”
“I have work after this.”
“I’m running on coffee.”
Being exhausted all the time almost sounds productive. It’s like proof you’re doing something right.
A lot of UPR students have side hustles now. Some work part-time jobs, some do internships, some sell things online, some do freelance work, some help their families, some do all of it at once. It can feel empowering, honestly. Having your own money, your own responsibilities, your own experience. It makes you feel like you’re already stepping into adulthood before college is even over.
But it can also feel like there’s no pause.
Sometimes you leave class thinking about work.
Sometimes you’re at work thinking about assignments.
Sometimes you’re doing both at the same time.
And when everyone around you lives like that too, it starts to feel normal. Maybe that’s the strange part. We got used to being tired.
There’s also this pressure that doesn’t always come from other people. Sometimes it comes from just looking around. You see classmates working, studying, doing internships, starting projects, posting their achievements, talking about their plans. And suddenly doing less feels wrong, even if you’re already doing a lot. Rest starts to feel like falling behind.
So you stay busy.
Not always because you want to, but because, sometimes, slowing down feels worse. Still, there’s something kind of admirable about the way UPR students handle all of it. People figure things out. They work. They study. They show up even when they’re exhausted. They learn how to manage responsibilities earlier than they expected to. They learn how to survive schedules that don’t really leave space to breathe.
Maybe side-hustle culture isn’t just about productivity.
Maybe it’s about needing to grow up faster.
Maybe it’s about wanting independence, but not having the time to enjoy it.
Maybe it’s about trying to build a future while you’re still figuring yourself out.
And that changes the way college feels.
College is supposed to be a time to learn, but also a time to grow, to make mistakes, to figure things out without feeling like every second has to be useful. When every day becomes a schedule to survive instead of a moment to experience, it changes the way we live this stage of life.
So are we thriving?
Or are we just exhausted?
Maybe the truth is somewhere in between.
And maybe being a UPR student right now means learning how to carry both at the same time.