Learning About Me Through Others

Tabitha Kenney
11-17-2022

KC101
Jennie Joiner
Goals:

1. Learn how to effectively balance college and work

2. Learn how to develop good time management skills

Objectives:

1. Learn strategies to avoid procrastination

2. Connect with facility on campus

3. Learn about the workload of college and work

Q&A:

1. Did you start working your first year of college? If not, when did you start working?

No, I didn’t start working until my sophomore year of college

2. What advice would you give to someone starting to work in college?

Start off with something simple, a part time job. As time goes on and you start to get

comfortable with the work expectations you can slowly start to obtain more hours and start

working full time.

3. How do you maintain a good balance between work and college?

I still haven’t mastered the balance, it’ll never be perfect, there are sacrifices that you’ll have to

make like staying in instead of hanging out with friends and sleep.

4. What made you choose to start working in college?

To be completely honest I was spoiled, I didn’t notice until I got called out by a friend.

5. What are some strategies you use to avoid procrastination?

To be honest with you I don’t have any, I’m very guilty of procrastination.

6. How do you maintain good time management?

I use a lot of alarms and I try to stay consistent with using my planner.

7. Would you recommend working in college?

Absolutely! It teaches you independence and pushes you out of your comfort zone while

preparing you for life after college.

8. Is it difficult to maintain good grades while working?

For me personally it depends on the class and the professor, I’ve learned that communication is

key with your professors, they’re usually understanding and will extend deadlines if need be.
For my learning about me through others assignment I chose to interview Joel, a campus safety

officer, to learn how to balance the workload of college and a job. I chose to interview Joel to

learn about the balance between work and school and to get advice on starting a job while in

college. During the interview, Joel gave a lot of good advice and strategies while giving honest

and genuine answers. He provided me with sound advice on communicating with your
professors and maintaining good time management. My initial interest was learning about what

the balance looks like between work and school to get a better understanding of the workload

and expectations before I start working here in Penn Yan. Throughout the interview I learned

that sacrifices have to be made when managing work and college, you’re going to have to stay

in most nights instead of going out with friends and your sleep schedule will drastically change.

I learned a lot about myself through this interview, I learned that I crave independence and now

know how to obtain it. I’ve always had an independent mindset but after coming to college my

motivation for independence has been drastically lowered. All I’ve wanted to do since coming to

Keuka College is go home and work, but as the weather gets colder and my workload gets more

intense I’ve lost all motivation to continue working on the weekends. After talking with Joel and

hearing his story I can feel my motivation coming back slowly but surely, I now have the urge to

find a local part time job in Penn Yan and slowly start working consistently again.

While completing this assignment I learned the importance of starting with something simple

and part time when it comes to working in college. Instead of immediately going all in and

starting at 20-30 hours a week, start out slow with around 8-12 hours a week to make sure you

can balance the two. I’ve regained my motivation to work and I now know how to balance work

and college. I truly did enjoy the conversation I had with Joel, he was encouraging and spoke

truthfully which made me feel more connected with him as a facility member on campus. I felt

like I was speaking with a friend as opposed to a campus safety officer. He cared and was

genuinely interested in our conversation and encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone. He

suggested I start off with an on campus job like the Wolf Den Cafe and work my way up to an off

campus full time job. I felt very comfortable talking with Joel and learning about the college and

work balance, he was very informational and encouraging. He made sure I knew how important

it is to gain independence and step out of my comfort zone.

Copy of thank you letter:

Dear Joel,

I wanted to reach out and thank you for taking the time to talk to me and letting me interview you

for my KC101 class. Your advice and encouragement on working while in college was very

inspirational and sparked my motivation to start consistently working again. I appreciate the

advice and strategies you gave me on time management and learning how to balance both

college and a job while maintaining good grades and avoiding procrastination.

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Tabitha Kenney