(FINAL) Podcast #2-The Reality of Student Work-A Personal Story

This episode of the podcast series focuses on the experiences of student workers. The guest, a UCLA student, discusses their major, work, and weekly hours. They struggle with time management and find it difficult to balance work and school. Many student workers work over 20 hours a week, which affects their abilities as students. Limited time also limits their opportunities for internships and gaining experience in their field. The guest emphasizes the importance of financial independence as they support themselves and their family. They rely on their job to cover expenses beyond education and housing. They work hard to save money for the future and send money to family members when needed. Welcome back to the second episode of our special podcast series on the realities of being a student worker. If you haven't listened to our first episode, where Aretika and I broke down some of the key findings from our research, definitely check that out. Today we're diving deeper into one student's experience, one that reflects the challenges, sacrifices, and resilience that define the lives of so many working students. We're joined today by a fellow UCLA student worker who has a compelling story about balancing work and school. We're excited to hear their perspectives. Thank you so much for being here. To start off, can you tell our listeners a bit about yourself, like your major, the kind of work you do, and how many hours you usually work in a given week? Hi, so my name is Pervo. I am a current fourth year, so a senior at UCLA. I'm a Geography and Environmental Studies major with a minor in GIS, which is pretty much just Geographic Information Systems, meaning I pretty much just make maps. I would say that at UCLA, I mainly just focus on my coursework. I also am employed by UCLA, and I am the director for UCLA eSports as well. I'd say on average per week, I work anywhere at a minimum, I'd say 15 hours, but on average, and my more typical weeks is anywhere from 18 to 21. I'd say it was more at the beginning of 2025 in January, but there have been some cutoffs recently, so I've been working a little bit less around 18 to 21 instead of around 25, which is what I would do before. Thank you. Your schedule sounds brutal, but you're not alone. Our research found that nearly half of student workers clock in over 20 hours a week while juggling full-time coursework. How do you personally manage that balance? I would say I'm pretty terrible at managing it. I'm taking four classes this quarter, which is kind of a lot, especially for a senior, because I should be like almost done with all my requirements, but when I picked up this minor, the department I'm under doesn't always have classes available, so there was only select times that I could take it, and the coursework has been really heavy this quarter, so I've been struggling. I'm turning in assignments pretty late, and on top of that, because a lot of my assignments require me to be at home and working at a computer, it's kind of hard to do on the go, so I think especially like having a job makes it pretty difficult, just in the sense that I have to... Okay, I wouldn't say I live super far from work, like obviously I know people commute, but for a student job, the 20-minute walk is a lot, and it does take up a large part of my day, I'd say, having to get up, wake up, go to work, get ready, and then if I wanted to go to class, I'd still have to change out of my work clothes as well, it does add up. Even just not being able to do work while I'm at work kind of also sucks, like homework and stuff, I know some people can study, but because I need my PC to run certain software, it becomes even more difficult, and it's hard to focus, especially, so I'd say that I wouldn't... I'm not the best at time management. I try like whenever I'm just home to just like do it, so like today's the first day off I've had this whole week, and it's the only day I really have off, aside from the weekend, but the weekends, I usually have other commitments, such as like family commitments, so I can't really bank on being able to do my homework on weekends, so I try to do them as much as possible on the weekdays, but my schedule on weekdays is like pretty much I wake up, I have class from 10 to 2, and then sometimes I'll just use the time after to do homework, and then on the days where I don't have class, I usually work anywhere from 6 to 9 to 12 hours, depending on like what the day's filled with, and on some other days, I have class 10 to 2, and then I have work 3 to 6, so it's kind of just like my whole day is out and doing stuff, and on top of that, like I still have to make food, I still have to shower, I still have to do other stuff, so I'd say the way that I try to manage stuff is just, if I'm home, and I'm not tired, I'm gonna try to do it, and if I can't, or if I just am not feeling well, it'll get done eventually, I'd say time management's something I'm terrible at, and it definitely has reflected in like my grades and my coursework. Yeah, you make a lot of really interesting points, and I know you mentioned that you were taking four classes while working and still trying to stay involved in campus activities, and you mentioned how having to work this many hours often overshadows your abilities as a student, but do you feel like being a student worker has limited your opportunities in other ways as well? I definitely think that it has. I know so many people who are currently in internships or applying for internships, and it makes sense, like internships, we take up a lot of time throughout the week. One of my classmates, she is actually part-time GIS, she's like, she works under the city, one of the cities in Los Angeles County or something, and I thought that was really cool, but I mean, she didn't have any other jobs, like she was able to just have the time to apply and just work at this job, so it's kind of nice. Also, applying to jobs related to my field is pretty difficult if I don't have the experience, and I can't really gain the experience, because I do need to be able to work to afford stuff that I would like to buy if I want to go out, etc., because I don't really get financially supported from family or anything, so I have to make up that money on my own, and so I really focus more on just being able to buy stuff now and, like, afford stuff now, rather than having to take extra time to catch up in, like, my future, so I can't really put the time to apply to as many internships, because I'm so busy with my coursework, schoolwork, and my club activities, it's just hard to make up the time. Recently, I have been applying, and I've been trying to make time for it, but even then, I don't, it's my fourth year, and I don't have much experience, because, especially in the summers, I work so many hours, like, in the summer, I'm pretty much full-time, along with still taking classes in the summer, so I never really particularly prioritized experience in my industry, I just focused on doing well academically, doing well on my assignments, understanding the content, and now I'm hoping that people will look at the stuff I've done in class, or in my academics, and take a chance with me. Great, thank you for that. That's such a great and important point you bring up, about missing internships and other related field opportunities, and that brings me to another point. One of our biggest takeaways was that only 26% of student workers found their jobs relevant to their future career paths, and, of course, it's a huge issue, students working out of necessity, but not gaining experience in their field. Something that really resonated with me, when you were talking earlier, was when you mentioned financial independence. You talked about supporting your family and unexpected expenses. Can you share a little bit more about what that's been like? I personally don't come from, like, the best background. When I came to college, it was kind of like a decision I have to make on my own, and it was really like, I knew that I would have to put in the effort and energy to be able to sustain myself, just because it wasn't affordable for my mom to constantly send me money. She's a single parent mom, and she's a street vendor, so income is limited, and I do have other siblings, and she has other things to take care of, so I knew from the get-go that I should probably get a job when at college, so I tried really hard. I actually didn't get one until pretty late, which is my current job, which was around the end of my first year, and I'd say I really needed this job just to be able to, like, go out, hang out with people. Any expenses that I have or need to make, like, from week to week, day to day, come from my own account. I'd say I'm very fortunate in the sense that financial aid does cover most of education, covers education and housing for me, so that's very, I'm very thankful that I have that opportunity and that I have those resources, because without it, I don't think I'd be able to attend college at all. Needing a job is just that, beyond just paying for the education and housing, there's so much more expenses, like, if I need to buy textbooks that are coming out of my bank account, if I need to buy new technology, so I bought an iPad last summer because it was useful for taking notes for me, for the way I like to study personally, so I felt like it was something that I did need, and I made sure to account for it when working and how many hours I worked per week. I definitely say I take it week by week, but I know if I'm like, okay, I'm overspending this week, I'm going to try to pick up more hours to make up for it, just because I know that after college, I don't really have anywhere to go, so I need to have some savings as a backup and some type of ability to apply to some type of job to sustain myself, just because I don't plan on going home, and I don't really think there's space at me for home anymore, and there's been times where I do have to send money home to family members, like some sibling, like my parents in Mexico, or family members in Mexico and stuff that I don't always account for, and I don't know when it's going to happen, but I am more than willing to do when it does happen, so I do try to have savings and try to work as much as possible, just in case of these situations, because I know the money isn't always going to be there, and if I'm able to now, and I have the time, I try really hard to work as much as possible, because at the end of the day, it's like I need to sustain myself some way. Yeah, that's right. Well, thank you for sharing. That's something we saw a lot of in our research, financial insecurity leading to impossible choices. We found that over 70% of students said financial pressure was the main reason they worked while sick. Have you ever been in a situation where you had to put work ahead of your health or academics? Honestly, all the time. I definitely think I've prioritized work in so many aspects, especially when it comes to academics and stuff. Sometimes I'll turn in an assignment late to pick up hours, because I felt like I didn't work enough that week, or I needed more money for X, Y, and Z purposes. Okay, so last summer, in particular, my computer pretty much just completely stopped working, and to be able to complete any of my coursework, the program we use is called ArcGIS Pro, and I needed a working PC. My laptop would not be able to handle it, even if I tried the remote computers that UCLA has available, it still did not run well, and my laptop kept turning off. So I really needed to fix the parts, and so in a day, I had to be willing to spend nearly $1,000 to replace all the parts in my computer, and I was. I ended up doing it because I had an assignment due that weekend, and it was something that I was like, damn, this is my money. It just hurts to have to spend so much money in one go over something that wasn't my fault, and I can't control. Luckily, I was able to fix my computer, and to make up for it, I would work like 60 hours a week in the summer to try to get that money back, because in the summers when I try to accumulate the most money to have savings for, I definitely think that when I'm sick, I'll still come to work, just because I need the money, and I don't like being in bed, doing nothing, and feeling like I'm losing time, I'm losing money, and I'm losing stuff when I should be doing something. Also, when it comes to academics, it takes up so much time to be at work. I definitely think I miss out on time that I could be using to study, to do my assignments, etc. I know that during finals week at my job, none of my co-workers really want to work, because they want to be studying. Even if our job, my job in particular is pretty relaxed, but I'd say still there's a lot of distractions, and you still have to help people a lot, so it becomes difficult to be able to study, so people try to work absolute bare minimum hours, and it just adds to the workload for people, because you end up being single-staffed, or there's enough resources to really help the students during those times. Especially towards finals week, there's a lot of preparation going for my job, because so many students are leaving and coming, so I would say that there's a really a lack of support when it comes to being a student worker here. We kind of just expect us to deal with the fact that there's going to be more work during a time when we're already so, so busy. Yeah, that's so, so frustrating, because students or institutions like UCLA often talk about student wellness, but there's such a disconnect, and you talked about all these random expenses or unexpected expenses, like having to replace your laptop, and I know how frustrating that can be, because that actually happened to me last quarter as well, so you mentioned at the end of that that you feel like there's a lack of support from UCLA and maybe from your employers or professors. Can you elaborate on that a little bit, and maybe the resources that are in place to help that you think have been beneficial or not? I would say the case when it comes to professors, most of them might be understanding, but in any sense, it has always been discouraged to ask for extra help when it comes to time management. Actually, right now, I'm going to print an assignment today, probably five days late, and I'm going to email my TA apologizing, because it was kind of a mix of, I didn't have enough time, and two, it was just really difficult, and I didn't ask for help, and I think something that a lot of student workers like myself struggle to do is to reach out, and it's because of the, when I read the syllabus, he quite literally said that we will not be giving you extensions if the issue seems to be with your own time management, and I definitely think that, yes, I can manage my time better, but it's so hard to manage my time when I already have so much to do. Like, I can only manage my time so much at some points, like, I get tired, and I feel like I really just cannot do this right now, and I think that those kinds of messages of saying, like, time management isn't a valid, isn't really a valid excuse, it's really frustrating, and it's unsupportive in so many ways, because so many people have so many circumstances where they have to do more than others, and they have so many other responsibilities because of the background they come from, who they are, the people in their lives, etc. So, I definitely feel like I've been discouraged to ask for help, even, or extensions, even if I, like, decided, okay, I'm going to go home this weekend, I don't really need to go home, but I would like to go home to visit a family member, to visit this person, and it's not a valid reason, and most of the time, I don't go home, even though I live a 20-minute drive away from UCLA for that reason. I only go home during certain circumstances, and even now, when my grandma's here visiting from Mexico, and she's pretty ill, I choose not to go home, because I don't feel I have the time to do so, nor do I wish to ask for extra time from other people, and especially, like, my professors and stuff. I definitely say UCLA, and employing students in particular, have never really been the most helpful or resourceful for student workers. I would say a perfect example is this January, with the fires, where so many people were worried, so many students, student workers, in particular, were being, were told that they have to show up to work, or else they'll be fired, yet there was no information given, no resources given, there was no communication at all, and students were at a loss, and they were being punished for not knowing what to do, and for choosing their own health and safety over themselves. So, I definitely think that UCLA, in general, is just failing its students, and should do a better job to reach out, and to just communicate, and see what, what student workers need, because we're both student hand workers, meaning that we have so much more to do. Our job isn't the only thing in this world. Thank you. You bring up some really great points, especially, you know, with all the things you mentioned. This is all exacerbated by financial constraints, and so we actually found that over a quarter of students have seen their financial aid decrease over time, making things even harder. Do you think that universities should be doing more? I definitely think that universities should do more. I know that, like, some institutions have policies where they cap hours. UCLA is being more strict with how many hours they allow students to work, but I think they've also realized that a lot of these issues aren't just from them picking up hours because of them being, because of students being understaffed, but it comes from underlying family, like, other issues, such as family, other financial issues, being homeless, etc. So, some people have no other option than to work. I definitely do believe that the financial aid departments in so many schools are incredibly unhelpful, and in many cases will reject any types of questions or assistance, just because, at the end of the day, like, schools, universities are all institutions that are monetized, and that we live in a capitalistic government where things, and school education is something where we can make, where institutions can make money off of. So, I definitely think that those resources are very limited, and student workers are people who try their best to do what they can and try to get a job that is close, near by them, and it's easy to access as well. So, I definitely think that more could be done financially, but I would say, in my knowledge, I'm not too aware of what institutions could do. Maybe it could just be reaching out, or providing financial aid for student workers, or scholarships for student workers, just because there's so many, and most people who work in, as student workers, tend to be people of color, from lower income backgrounds, who really need the money, and I definitely think that if you have certain demographics, having these jobs, there's a reason why, and we could always just do a better job to help people out. Yeah, you make a lot of really great points on changes needed in institutions like UCLA, which brings me to my next question, which is, if you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about the way student work is structured, whether at UCLA or beyond, what would it be? If I could change how student work was structured, I would honestly make it so, well, one, we aren't really paid minimum wage, just because, I guess, UCLA's pay for minimum wage is above the California state's minimum wage, but I definitely think that prices, especially in this area, are so much higher, the cost of living is so much higher than in other areas. I know, obviously, it's incomparable, because USC isn't really a public school at all, but the surrounding areas think them to be cheaper, because it is like LA, it is downtown LA-ish, I guess, but this is kind of West Hollywood, closer to the Santa Monica area, where things just tend to be so expensive, food, like if you wanted to go out to dinner, it costs so much more than in other parts of California, even downtown LA is insanely expensive, but this part of LA in particular is so expensive, the cost of living, apartments, housing, etc. is really high, a lot of people who work at my job don't actually live with UCLA housing, or live on off-campus apartments, and it's just showing that people are willing to travel, because they have to have more affordable locations to live in, so they can't really afford everything. I just wish that there was more resources, whether it be like buses to help people commute to work, because they're living in an on-campus apartment, but are commuting to the job, which is, it's like, instead of having to walk 20 to 30 minutes, if there was a bus from there to my job, it would be insanely helpful, it would save me so much time, and energy, and effort, because sometimes I'm just like, I really don't want to get up and walk to work at 8 in the morning, or some of my co-workers who work at 5 in the morning, and have to come in super early. I also think that, yeah, I definitely think that the pay could be better, especially for student workers, and living in the area. I know that other jobs at UCLA pay slightly above minimum wage, but I think for the job that I do, it could definitely be higher, especially if there's not many student workers, and you're expecting them to do as much work as we do, while balancing school work, it should be more worth it, and you should incentivize people to actually want to try to work harder at their jobs, and show up more. I know a lot of people take this job really seriously, and care about the environments they're in, and the people they work with, so they try their best to make it a really good community, so I just wish that UCLA would recognize that, and do more to keep incentivizing student workers to want to keep showing up to work. Thank you. Yeah, you bring up a lot of great points. I definitely agree as a UCLA student worker here as well. A better pay would help me. I pay for all my tuition by myself, so, you know, we have to remind ourselves we're getting a minimum wage, not a livable wage, and so there's a lot of, there's much more to it that we can be getting from the school, whether it be with internships, or stipends, and all that stuff, but yeah, thank you for that, and through our research, we've been trying to amplify student worker voices, so that these problems don't go unheard. That's why we're launching our website, which will be a multimedia space, where we'll share research, student testimonials, videos, and even this podcast. Exactly. Our goal is to make these realities visible, because once people actually hear stories like yours, Claribel, it's impossible to ignore. And if you're a student worker listening, we want to hear from you. So before we wrap up, any final thoughts or advice for other student workers navigating the struggle? Yeah, I mean, most of the friends I've made here at UCLA have been other student workers, so I know a lot about their personal backgrounds, who they are, where they come from, what they had to do to get here, and I just think that anybody who's listening, who's not a student worker, just be appreciative of the people who are helping this campus keep going. As a student worker, I'd say we're not always treated the best, and people kind of expect us to know everything. I had a lot of incidents with parents, students themselves, that tend to see us as less than. I even also feel that the school really treats us as less than, in the way that they communicate with us, in the way that most of the time, if we're getting contacted, it's to get us in trouble for something, rather than to inform us of stuff or help us with resources. In my job, I'd say we particularly lack communication quite a lot. I wouldn't say it comes directly from my managers, but from the system itself that I work under. I'd say if UCLA is listening themselves, that they should do a better job at communicating issues that they have, or what they expect out of student workers, because we kind of just work with what we know and what we have, and you can't expect us to do more if we don't have the resources, nor know how to do more. I'd say that there's so much more that could be done. At the end of the day, care about the people who are helping your community keep running. Treat them as what we are, which is people. I know that sometimes we might not be the best at our jobs, or we might not get done what you want to get done, but it's really not helpful at all to have so much negativity, and so many people just not really talk to us, or communicate with us, or help us in any way, shape, or form. At the end of the day, most of us have this job because we have to work for ourselves, or need the resources. So I definitely think that if you are a student worker, you're not alone. We've all had those moments where people are kind of mean, and so it's just important to just try your best, do what you can, but I guess also prioritize your own health and safety. I think that's something that I'm not the best at, prioritizing myself, my time management, focusing on other things that I enjoy. I work more because I feel I need the resources now, and I need to be able to afford things now, and so because of that, I lose out on other opportunities, other stuff in my life. So definitely try your best to manage all that, and hopefully one day there'll be better wages for student workers. I definitely think that student workers should be paid more, just because the campus has the resources, and knows what the student workers have to do, especially in the summer when there's more to do. I definitely think that the wage should reflect accordingly. Thank you so much for sharing your story. These conversations are tough, but they're necessary. And to anyone listening, please stay tuned. We have more content coming, and we can't wait to share it with you.