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Mahala Jones
Approximately 86 percent of college and university students are defined as commuter students, that is, students not living in university-owned housing (Commuter Student). Being a commuter in 2020 has been a challenge for many of the students that I’ve spoken to. All commuters really must focus on how we use our time to complete tasks such as assignments or working jobs. They must have money management during these times because my job cut a lot of peoples’ hours at my job which affects their weekly income and we pay for gas to get to school and gas isn’t cheap. Through all these issues, I’m going to help the present freshmen and future freshmen with money and time management in these challenging times by giving them suggestions from other students on how to solve their issue.
Money management is tough enough as a student but after COVID-19 started to spread it became much more of a challenge. Many people rushed to buy as many masks and sanitizing products so many people dint get the chance to buy them. After asking a few students I know I have come up with the most important questions that I have also had myself this year. One student had told me about their challenges with this pandemic when it comes to money. They explained how it has been more challenging for them to save money. Since the pandemic started a lot of stores and restaurants have closed, so many have lost their jobs and many of them have been students. This situation is very challenging since not that many places are hiring so there are still many students without jobs. Commuter students who live in apartments need money to pay their rent of but necessities. A way I would solve this problem would be by looking into a work-study at UPike. This can be an easier and faster way of finding a new job. There are many different options when it comes to work-study and you can even do it online with some of the options.
I had a few students I have asked to tell me they had more of a problem with how to keep the proper things to keep themselves protected from this virus. After everyone began buying up all the hand sanitizer and masks so it was harder to find them for themselves. Many students have resulted in making masks themselves. Although some were just buying them from family members or friends who make them. After the decorated masks began to come out and more hand sanitizer was being sold more students began to stock up as everyone had before. This resulted in many students spending more money than intended. This is a good idea in the sense of protecting yourself and trying to keep from getting sick, but it also took a turn for the worse since they spent their money that they should have used to get to and from school.
Time management is one of the most important things as a student. After asking another student they told me they have more of a challenge with getting to class on time. They explained how they will get to the campus a few minutes early and have that time be wasted due to there being a limited number of students per elevator. I have run into this problem myself at the beginning of this semester. I was not aware of the elevator situation and ended up being about 5 minutes late to my first class and there was nearly no place to sit due to the social distancing guidelines. This was very embarrassing for me due to it being my first day as a freshman. The way I learned to avoid this problem was by showing up at least fifteen minutes early, I would rather be too early to class than to be late again. I feel many students could be benefitted from this and not just commuter students. I remember sitting in class in the first few weeks of school and seeing many students rushing into class late nearly every day.
Time management became even more of a challenge for some students I know after classes went online. I had more than one classmate complain to me about running out of time on assignments. I tend to have the same problem. Between trying to find a job and keep up with assignments many students continue to either rush through assignments or just turn in their assignments late. I think any student can say they’ve experienced this too. After having this problem myself and asking other students how they solve this problem themselves I figured it was best to start an assignment tracker or to use a planner. I have set up an assignment tracker for myself to be able to put in all my assignments and their due dates and I try to remind myself to check it every day. Although I use the assignment tracker myself, many students I have spoken about this issue told me that they prefer to use a planner. Most of them said they will put the assignment on the day it was signed and then put the due date on that day, so they know how much time they must complete them. These options could help any student whether it’s during a pandemic or not.
After getting these suggestions from other students for suggestions on how to help themselves manage their time and money during COVID-19. During this pandemic, it seems you can never expect what is next considering we unexpectedly had to continue classes online. I hope this will help any other student if it is needed again in the future.
Citations
“Commuter Students – Commuter Student Challenges.” StateUniversity.com, education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1875/Commuter-Students.html.