The majority of students at UNM not only manage their school loads, but they have jobs as well.
Joseph Gonzales, the University's financial aid manager, said that currently 6,500 UNM students have on-campus jobs, including work-study qualified students, and 140 more were placed in off-campus jobs through UNM's student employment office.
"There are many, many students at UNM that have to work in order to go to school," said Carol Wagner-Adams, clinic manager at the Student Health Center's Counseling and Therapy Services.
Wagner-Adams said it's very common for students to come into CATS because of stress caused by balancing school and work.
"We see lots of students who need help juggling work issues and financial stress," Wagner-Adams said. "It's pretty common."
UNM senior Jason Wright said he has worked 30 hours and gone to school full-time for the last three years. Currently, he is the welcome desk manager at the SUB.
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Gonzales, who is the SUB desk manager, said he is able to avoid a lot of stress by working on campus because although most employers are not required to schedule students around their classes, most do.
"Class is most important, but work is necessary," Wright said.
Sophomore Ramona Baca-Hodroff said she has to work 24 hours a week at the campus-area restaurant Saggio's to support herself while paying for school.
"It's too bad we have to work," Baca-Hodroff said. "But I also think it's important for students to do some work because it's a nice transition into the real world."
Baca-Hodroff said she had to take last semester off from school to work and is only taking seven credit hours this semester in order to work enough to pay her bills.
She said that in recent years she has seen an increase in organizations willing to work around students' schedules.
"It is really hard to manage a full course load and work at the same time, but it is nice to see businesses that understand our situation and do what they can to help," Baca-Hodroff said.
The two biggest effects she feels from balancing work and school are the stress level and her social life.
Wright said that the only free time he has is on Sunday. The rest of the week he uses time management to be able to work and study. He also said that, if anything, his grades are improving because he doesn't have a lot of free time and his sole purpose for work is school.
"I know I'm earning money to be in school so I put in the extra effort and never slack," Wright said.
Wagner-Adams said what college students need to understand when balancing work and school is to have effective time management.
"What's most important is looking at your total responsibilities and seeing if there's any time for you," Wagner-Adams said. "It's important to stay on top of your tasks, but you need to remember that your primary role as a student is to be a student."
