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

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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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misc. For many University students, Halloween during the college years was quite different from the Hal- loween they knew as children. As students moved from youth to adulthood, trick-or-treating and the quest for the best candy was replaced by house parties and bar-hopping. Such was the case for communications senior Sa- rah Blase and senior English major PrashantRajkhowa. Blase took full advantage of the entertainment op- portunities Halloween provided. I wenttomyfriend ' s house party, and to the bar, she said. I dressed up as a fairy princess this year. We just went out to this party and drank, Rajkhowa said of his Halloween celebration. Although he did not dress up for the occasion, he did paint his face. Another friend he went out with dressed up as a character from Street Fighter, while one of his male friends wore a fairy costume, he added with a laugh. Blase noted both the ups and downs of the holi- day as a college student. Halloween is a lot more social, she said. It ' s so much fun to see everyone dressed up and having so much fun. Unfortunately, there is also a lot less candy. Chemical engineering sophomore Adam Cole agreed with Blase ' s assessment. Halloween is more of a social event being older, he said. Trick-or-treat- ing certainly does not outweigh partying at this point in life. Although sophomore LSA student Christy Davidson was studying for an accounting exam on Halloween, she did not let that stop her from enjoy- ing the holiday. She attended parties the weekend before, dressed as a cop. The costumes are more fun; instead of just being Snow White or a ghost, I can do whatever I want and still have fun like when I was a kid, said Davidson of how Halloween had changed since her childhood. I miss going trick-or-treating, but I did that all through high school, too. r- c scnief B By Cortney Dueweke For some students overwhelmed by schoolwork, however, the idea of celebrating Halloween only amounted to wishful thinking, as exams and term papers replaced holiday parties and nights out with friends. Cole and chemical engineering sophomore Richard Heins both spent Halloween night studying for exams. On Halloween, I sat scared to death in the Graduate Library stacks studying for my Physics 140 exam, Cole complained. He also noted that he had an organic chemistry exam on Halloween the year before. Had he not been studying, Cole guessed he would have done what the rest of the University did: gooutandhavesomefun...maybeevenhavedressed up, he said. Heins stayed inside to study for the same physics exam this Halloween, and was also sidelined by an organic chemistry exam during his first Halloween at the University. I was going to get dressed up and go out to a few parties I even got a costume but then I realized that I had a physics exam the next day, so I had to stay home and study, he said. I would have met up with some friends, gone to a few frat parties and then gone to the Nectarine. Both Cole and Heins thought professors should refrain from giving exams on Halloween and on the days surrounding it, pointing out that the demands of schoolwork had prevented them from enjoying the holiday fortwo years in a row. I thinkthey should workaround it, said Heins, while Cole added, I don ' t really know what Halloween celebrations are like here, seeing as exams have occupied the day in one way or the other. Kids need to have some fun. For those lucky enough to be able to go out on Halloween, the day was one when students could recall the youthful spirit of the holiday while cel- ebrating in a decidedly more adult way. For others trapped within the confines of the library or bound by academic obligations, Halloween was a day filled with painful studying and wishf ul thinking about candy, costumes and college fun. Michigan Life | 57

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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