During the summer, I decided to buy a car. I would be paying for it all by myself, including the bi-weekly payments, the insurance, gas and anything else it needed. I was excited and knew that this would be a huge responsibility, but I was up for the challenge. I had worked full time over the summer, and with some of the money saved up, I knew it was a realistic possibility. I like to treat myself with food and clothing, so I knew if I wanted to upkeep my lifestyle, I would need a job so I could get the best of both worlds. I got a job at the Lynden Park Mall at a clothing store and thought, this is a great opportunity!” I accepted to be full time because I knew the more money, the better, and I had some spare time since my schedule was not full. My manager had said that it would be close to twenty-five hours per week, and that was more than doable.
During the first week of school, I didn’t have full-time hours so I was getting by with school and work. Once my training shifts were over at work, I started getting more hours slowly and still managed my time with school pretty well. By this time, October was approaching, and so was reading week. Stress had no bearing on me, and I was proud of having developed great time management skills. Right after reading week, I had four midterms in one week while working about thirty-five hours. My shifts are always around eight to nine hours long, and when I am done, I want to go home, lay in bed and watch Netflix. Having to work those long hours, and coming home to study for midterms was not my best moments. I was overworking myself and could feel my body trying to tell me to stop and take a minute to breathe, but I could not. That week was the longest of my life; I had to remind myself constantly that I would get a moment to breathe soon, and needed to hold on a little longer. Finally, midterm week was over, and my school schedule went back to normal. And now, I’m still that tired student who praises her days off.
Work is still the same, having around thirty hours a week, and I still have assignments at school that need to get done. My roommates tease me that they never see me, and I feel like my only free time is while I sleep. When I calculate my weeks and how long they are, I do about fifty hours or more of work and school combined. On top of all of the work and school, I still need to have time for my friends; I need to find time to go home and time for myself. But, looking at it from another perspective, I have my car sitting in my driveway, at the tip of fingertips. I still get to go out with my friends when I am not working, and I still eat out just as much. Honestly, I would not trade it for anything. Yeah, I wish I had more time to sit on my bed, but who doesn’t? Having my car and having the money to treat myself allows me to have it all. Working all the time, and doing school work allows me to be productive and use my time wisely. I don’t know if I would recommend it for everyone because sometimes I feel like my social life is non-existent, and I am tired of being tired. But, I choose to look at the positive side because I get to see my car in the driveway, with shopping bags in my hands.
My new car and everything that comes along with it constantly reminds me to look at what good things are happening. Although sometimes having too much on your plate might seem like the worst thing, it can teach a lot of discipline.