By Liza Chernobay
Illustrated by Paavas Bansal
As much as I enjoy my Social Anthropology degree and editorial role at The Beaver, the weekly 270 pages worth of readings combined with the ad-hoc demands of producing a student newspaper can become quite overwhelming. And once you insert ‘life’ which tends to ‘happen’ at the least convenient moment into the equation, all there is left to utter is “help!”
While I make each day’s goal to stay afloat, there exists a species of LSE student who manage to secure a cosy spot in the library by 10AM, make sense of the readings in time for class, sit on a society committee, play sports in the afternoon, and pop to a housewarming party after dinner. However, the real LSE superheroes are those who manage to balance the above with working a part-time job.
For some students, working alongside their studies is a financial necessity. For others, it is a matter of choice–a means to boost disposable income, gain work experience, or transition to adulthood. Whatever the motivation, the reality of juggling work with academics and life in general is challenging, making those who manage this art truly admirable. So how do they do it? As it turns out, working, studying and staying on the brink of sanity is possible–as long as you do it right.
Like many young people facing the soaring London prices, Eva applied for part-time roles advertised by LSE and LSESU to gain independence and financial flexibility. “My parents give me a certain allowance,” she explains, “but it’s still quite small for London to live comfortably. So I thought, okay, I’ll make a bit of money on my own–even if it’s an extra £100, that’s already quite a drastic change in life.”
“Now that I live in my own flat with my flatmates, I think about bills, meal prepping,” Eva adds. “You think about every expense a lot more, even about the small things, like, do I want this bar of chocolate right now? Yes, no, it’s fine. I can go without it.”
However, there is much more depth to student jobs than money–especially if you work on campus. For students interviewed by The Beaver, the opportunity to make friends with co-workers and get involved with university life adds social value and meaning to receiving a coveted paycheck.
“To be honest, I’d probably never go to a thing like AU Night because I’m not in any of the sports teams,” explains Eva, “but [due to my job, I could] still be there. And you feel like you’re part of something, because you’re quite aware of even the small things, like knowing that these chairs or these tablecloths are in that specific cupboard.”
“You also end up going out of your comfort zone, because you obviously have to reach out to people, talk to them…it’s an exercise to help you be more social,” she adds.
Certain SU jobs, especially working at nighttime events like the AU night, or tending the bar at Tuns, are more “[physically] exhausting and even mentally draining”. However, Eva highlights that such experiences are character-building: “you do something quite tiring till very late, but at the end, you come out stronger.”
Working long hours also builds trust and kinship among co-workers based on the shared experience of dealing with difficult situations. “When I was working at the AU Night,” Eva continues, “and there were 600 people in the queue, I was scanning tickets, and I was just overwhelmed because it was too much.” Yet, at moments like this “you can rely so much on your other co-workers, like the security guard, Catherine. If anything gets out of hand, she’ll handle it.”
“When everyone’s done, and we’re all sitting waiting for Ubers back home and debriefing on the night, you get a sense of community.”
So how to master the right balance between working and studying at LSE? Largely, it is about finding a job with flexible hours. “[LSESU] is super flexible about work,” according to Eva, because they understand that “you’re an LSE student. So you pick your shifts, your hours…and then again, it’s not a super regular job, because there’s kind of rush periods, like the beginning of the year, then right before end of term.”
Taking time off to recharge your energy levels is also crucial to thrive both at work and in class. As Eva reminds us, “even if it’s just a day of doing some new things, or spending a day with a person you love, or doing an activity that you like. It’s just a matter of knowing what brings you energy… so you just learn to listen to yourself. And whenever it gets too draining or overwhelming or you’re unhappy with [work], that’s when you take a short break, cut back and reassess what you want to do.”
Equally, the secret lies in finding a job which you enjoy. Nika, who remotely tutors IB Maths to high school students alongside her Management degree, has “always really liked teaching and explaining things to people”, especially the “more quantitative subjects”. Since her degree is not purely mathematical, tutoring her favourite subject is “intellectually stimulating” and helps her keep formulae “fresh in her mind” throughout the year. “It’s a pretty well paying job, and it’s just something that I really love doing,” Nika explains, smiling.
Akin to many campus jobs, tutoring is also time-flexible, and does not require commuting. “You could literally be sitting in the library, doing your work, then you go maybe to a different place for an hour, do your lesson quickly, and then come back. You don’t have to travel anywhere. You can literally do it from your bed… It’s so easy.”
Naturally, tutoring is not completely effortless at the start, but with practice and time, you improve and become more efficient. “Once the first couple of lessons are done, and you know the way you want to teach, and how to structure [the lessons]”, teaching becomes easier and “scalable”, allowing to spend less time on preparing lessons and benefit from having more students using the materials and expertise you have gathered over time.
Nevertheless, not all part-time jobs are equally student-friendly. When looking for paid roles, Nika advises weighing up the time commitment, the need to commute and the compensation, along with all the other activities you wish to do while at university. The job may not be “worth it”, after all, if “you don’t get paid well and it takes out such a big chunk of your day”.
When blessed with the choice of not having to work, “there’s a lot of other things that you could be spending your time on that would be more fulfilling or would provide you with better skills… even hanging out with friends, really doing something sporty”, attending society or careers events are also valuable strategies to engage with university life and benefit from the time we have as students.
Needless to say, ‘to work or not to work’ is not a matter of discussion for some of us. Being an LSE student is tough, requiring you to navigate the precarity of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world alongside top-level academic commitments, career aspirations, social lives, and the vagaries of everyday life.
Yet, whatever path you choose to meet these demands, your choice will be exactly right as long as you prioritise your needs. Perhaps, you’ll join The Beaver like me. Some of us can jump over hurdles, while others prefer to walk around them. Either way, we will cross the finish line eventually, each at our own pace.
