University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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Smiling as he works, Kyle Aron, sophomore engi- neering student, rings up a guest at Cosi. Aron began working at the trendy State Street restaurant at the beginning of the fall semester, photo by Kate Maker Michigan Life | 59

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WORKING for me future Higher education made career dreams come true, but it was an expensive adventure. For in-state stu- dents, the total spent reached around $40,000, while for out-of-state students the amount doubled to about $80,000. Depending on the different resources students had, school could be a hard thing to pay for. For the students who found themselves paying for school alone, it became a difficult juggling act. Not only did they have to concentrate on schoolwork, extracurricular activities and a social life, but also they worked an enormous amount of hours during the week just to be able to do all these things. Sophomoreengineering student Jason Roselander was one such student who worked his way through school. He balanced two jobs, school and friends. Roselander ' s two jobs wereforthe Housing Informa- tion Technology Office, one working on projects for thedepartment and the other consulting in the IRC at South Quad. Roselander said one of the hardest things about working 30 hours each week to put himself through school was, It seems that there ' s always some activ- ity or event that I would love to go to, but can ' t because I ' m working. It actually makes me feel like I ' m missing out on a big part of the college experi- ence. If I didn ' t need to work, there are a lot of things I would do with the extra time. It was quite an accomplishment to be able to do all these things and still graduate. A sense of pride came with the fact that the students put themselves through school. Still it was a frustrating thing. By Carly McEntee I used to think it was kind of cool to pay bills myself, but now it ' s mostly depressing or annoying. Working so many hours a week, and knowing I won ' t see most of that money is a big downer. Cafeteria food actually tastes worse if you ' re paying for it yourself, Roselander commented. Roselander was not the only student that experi- enced this hardship. Sophomore engineering student Kyle Aron also worked to help pay his way through school. He paid half of his expenses while his parents paid the other half. Aron usually worked between 20 and 30 hours per week at the restaurant Cosi. He only worked nights and would work until about one or two in the morning, not leaving much timefor schoolwork. One of the hardest things, Aron found, was he [didn ' t] have time to do homework at night since most nights he spent at work, which meant he had to switch his timeschedulearound and sometimes missed a morning class or two. Aron also discovered he could not go out as much because some of the nights he had to devote to home- work. Juggling 1 6 credits plus work was quite a chal- lenge, but as he said, It ' s all relative, I ' m enjoying work. Many students found it necessary to pay their way through school, but instead of seeing it as a burden it just became everyday life. The students who putthem- selves through school had to miss out on some college experiences, but they still knew that they had paid for school with their own hard work and dedication. 58 | Working Through School

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Spending November brought Thanksgiving, December brought Winter Break and, for many students, each holiday called for a trip home. Whether by car, bus, train or plane, students made sure to find a way to get homeforthe holidays. However, the further away the home, the fewer the options of how to get there; many students had no choice but to deal with the holiday madness at Detroit Metro Airport. Oftentimes students carpooled in a cab, splitting the fare, or paid classmates in gas money for trips to the airport. If students avoided booking flights, they were likely forced to deal with rush hour traffic in their journeys home. Driving home, although seemingly more appealing, required students to prepare for holiday traffic, unexpected weather and staying awake during the ride home. Even for those who were able to drive a short distance home on a more regular basis, breaks were still a nice opportunity to get away from Ann Arbor for a while. Senior kinesiol- ogy major Gillian Parrott explained, Even though I only live an hourfrom Ann Arbor, I rarely go home. So going home and seeing my family for the holidays is exciting. Although I probably could have gone home more often in my four years here at the University, I basically just went home on holidays when every- body else did. That way it makes going home a lot more special and exciting. Some students who really appreciated the chance to get home and visit with family were frustrated when teachers gave out homework that kept stu- dents busy. Students were typically seen hauling bags of schoolbooks home for Thanksgiving break. at.JiG ome By Tiffany Marsch While unfortunate, many students bit their tongues and made sure the work was done by the time they got back to class. Still, these students were annoyed at the work they had done and felt that teachers cruelly ignored students ' needs to get away from work and spend time with their family. Laura Yankee, a junior psychology major, commented, I get really bummed when they assign work. I like to go home, unwind and prepare for the next set of school days and be with my family. It ' s annoying when I have to worry about schoolwork. I typically do it the day I get back to school. No matter where a student lived, going home for the holidays was a treat.The chance to get away from the craziness of papers, exams and communal living was welcomed by most, if not all, students. Sarah Linkner, a senior English major, said, I like going home for the holidays because I can eat really good food, catch up on sleep, and see all my friends from high school. If for nothing else, going home for the holidays was great reason to catch up on sleep. 60 | Home for the Holidays