Being a college student is a full-time job. From juggling a full schedule of classes to finding time to socialize and wind down at the end of the day, it can sometimes feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day.
If you do happen to find a few extra hours in the week to devote to your career goals or hobby building, then your side gigs will turn into a source of self-expression. We spoke with six of our chapter members about their side hustles to find out what keeps them motivated to keep working at their hobbies or jobs while taking four to five classes a week!
Check them out below, and maybe they’ll convince you to pick up an extra gig on the side.
Sabrina Romviel, running the social media presence of a startup e-commerce home decor store
I have been working at a startup e-commerce home decor store since June of 2020! I plan and post content on social media, use social media to engage with our customers, and on the back end, I write copy for our marketing campaigns and create listings for our products.
I’ve always loved interior design and wanted to see if working at a start-up was for me, and this job has given me a completely new perspective of what the “hustle” truly means. My boss works around the clock to grow her business. She has an aspirational stamina I strive to achieve and will truly be a force in the world of interior design—I’m sure of it. I don’t think I could ever commit the number of hours a day to the home decor business as my boss does—which makes me think I should redirect my career goals away from the entrepreneurial end of things for now—but I’ve discovered a passion for fostering cohesion throughout all aspects of a creative brand that I look forward to applying towards future career opportunities. For now, my pride in working for a start-up that values customer connection and authenticity over anything else motivates me to continue moving forward.
Cecilia Zhang, PSD Guild, a student-led design studio where six students (designers, illustrators, developers) take on design projects from The New School and also from external clients
We started tinkering with the idea during winter 2020 because we wanted to be doing more collaborative work outside of school. Officially, we became an organization in January. Right now, we’re still figuring out how closely we want to align with the school. We’re currently talking with the school and having conversations on how this studio can be more integrated with Parsons. I really enjoy working with friends and before this; I did a fair bit of freelance projects on my own, and PSD Guild is just taking two things I enjoy and combining them. I also was curious about what running a studio would be like, from finding projects to communicating to clients to working with teams where everyone has different specialties.
I think I learned that I personally enjoy shorter projects that lean more to the visual side. I also learned that there’s a LOT of small administration/management-related tasks that go into running a studio—which isn’t something I expected going into this.
The six of us really enjoy working together. We’re always learning so much from each other and it’s really amazing to see the work we can create when we each contribute our unique talents.
Pramila (Prim) Baisya, freelance photography
My side hustle is photography! I’ve been at it since high school when I first started really learning the craft. I’ve been in love with cameras since I was three years old despite them being too heavy for me to carry. I don’t know what drew me to it really—I just knew the camera itself fascinated me.
I’ve definitely learned that I’m not as introverted as I thought because I’ve had great conversations ever since expanding my business model and asking strangers if I could photograph them. I’ve learned how to live through a camera instead and cherish every film roll and shoot I do. I love photography because there’s always something new to learn and I know I’d never get bored of it. In an ideal world, I would love to continue expanding my business but freelancing is definitely much harder than I ideally anticipated. Nevertheless, I’ll still do it because I carry a camera with me everywhere I go!
Claudia Langella, cooking at @claudeata_
I recently started sharing all the meals I make (and eat at my favorite restaurants) to an Instagram account cleverly named @claudeata_ (get it?). Whether it’s chopping vegetables or preparing an entire weeknight meal for my family, I’ve enjoyed being in the kitchen. I blame it on the Food Network and Cooking Channel because my parents only let my sister and I watch cooking shows during the school week. They believed we’d learn something if we sat in front of the TV for hours if it involved food, and I definitely learned a lot.
Sharing what I create in the kitchen has definitely been a bit scary—there’s so much taboo around what, how, and why people should eat, but the community I’ve found on IG that isn’t worried about how many superfoods are in a meal is what inspires me to keep cooking. I hope to work in cookbook publishing one day, so I view my little Instagram account as a portfolio to track my progress in the kitchen.
Lauren Brice, blogger at Reading, Writing, and Me and Music, Musings, and Me and makes YouTube videos
Every project I’ve started has been sparked by deeply loving a topic and wanting an outlet to talk about it. My book blog, Reading, Writing, and Me, started with me finishing the first YA book I ever read, All the Bright Places, and I just wanted to tell everyone how much I loved it. While I do tons of different stuff on Music, Musings, and Me now, it started as a concert diary so I could remember exactly how those nights took shape. And, my YouTube channel started because I loved watching videos and wanted an open place to discuss different topics, document my life through vlogs, and connect with others as alone as I was.
I’ve learned so so much about myself. I’ve learned that I really love video editing and that I want to write about things I’m passionate about. The common thread probably is that all of these platforms gave me more confidence in myself and my abilities.
I continue to create because I truly just love creating. Even if no one was watching or reading, I would write these reviews and posts and film videos for myself because I love the feeling of trying to get all the pieces to snap into place. I love getting to flex my brain in a different way.