Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
I'm curious how other girls have balanced school while working-- i.e. if you lived in a dorm, what was that like? When did you do your shifts? How did the job affect your student life?
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
no dorms i had an apartment. i honestly think it would be too stressful. i worked very hard in the summers and during the year only worked double shifts on thursday and friday that way i still had most of the week to live in the daytime and study.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
Work smarter, not harder. I worked weekends and one night during the week (to keep the club happy). Just be careful with spending.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
I did. I had an apartment and I usually worked weekdays. What I would do is schedule my classes for after 3 and up until 9pm and then go straight to work after I got out of class. It was very hard but I managed to pay my tuition on my own with no help and save money. Tell NOBODY. Good luck.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
I need an advise from those who balanced full-time school, work and having a toddler. Any input on that?
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sirocco
I need an advise from those who balanced full-time school, work and having a toddler. Any input on that?
No advice but many prayers!!! Good luck! You can do anything you put your mind to and make a schedule for. A study schedule is a great way to get A's.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
Thank you! By far I tried only part-time -and it was brutal. Now I am trying to come up with a strategy for full-time and daycare stuff. I guess working on weekends would be the best option.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
The school may have resources for you. Oftentimes colleges have childcare programs for their staff! They may be able to hook you up with a discounted rate to drop off your child while you attend class. Ask the registrar- these colleges are mandated to make their education more accessible to people who have barriers and are not spooled 18 year olds.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
Schedule EVERYTHING. I mean, print out blank calendars of your entire semester, put every single assignment on there, give a realistic estimate of how much time assignments will take you (don't forget the big ones that you'll have to split up), put those into the calendar, and then schedule work around that. Also schedule "off-days" if you can finagle not taking classes on Friday or working at the club only one weekend night, but not both - you might feel lazy now, but trust me, you will need them. Avoid any class that starts before 10am if you can help it. Don't be too proud to nap in the hallway before class - fuck it, everyone does it.
I stripped through my last year of college, working part-time at the club, part-time at a vanilla job to keep up my resume, and as a full-time student (and I had 8am and 9am classes - this SUCKED). It was brutal, and I would definitely change a lot of things. I would ditch the vanilla job or else pick something less physically strenuous than another job where I had to stand the entire time. I would do whatever I could to avoid the early-morning classes. I would take more time for my physical health, especially stretching, because by the end of a semester, my back would feel like it was about to crack in half and I could do almost nothing but lie there for an entire day.
The one thing that got me through it was scheduling like crazy. Without those calendars, I would have missed a lot of assignments and obligations, I'm sure. I also had a habit of loading almost all my work days, with both jobs one right after the other, at the beginning of the week, giving myself Wednesday - Friday to only focus on school and catch up on rest. Saturday was a "maybe I'll work, maybe I won't" day. It sucked on those first few days, but then I had less to do the rest of the time. I honestly don't know if it was better to do it that way or if it would have been better to divide the days up more equally, because I never tried the other way.
I lived in an off-campus house with roommates, who, despite all their flaws, were mostly respectful of my schedule and job. A dorm might be trickier if you have a random roommate. It's one thing to just wander in and out around other people, if you hide your clothes and shoes in a large purse and just act like you were out at a party or something. But if you're actually living with some rando, they'll probably suspect, and that would make me uncomfortable. I requested a single dorm my freshman year, because I did not want a random roommate. Especially if I was dancing, I would try to go that route if possible.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sirocco
Thank you! By far I tried only part-time -and it was brutal. Now I am trying to come up with a strategy for full-time and daycare stuff. I guess working on weekends would be the best option.
my son is in daycare mon-fri so weekends are actually the worst for me because i don't get rest. if you have someone helping you it's much easier.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
I'm doing this--I second not telling anyone where you work. Or telling customers where you go to school. If you ever have to choose between the two put school first. Going straight from class to the club was a mindfuck for me sometimes. Idk it's hard.. all I can say is aim for classes that are later in the day and try to do things that keep up your energy and mood.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
I will come back and add and or edit this post later... I did it. It IS hard but it is not impossible. I agree with the other posters about not scheduling early classes but sometimes you have to, depending on your major and class availability.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
i really didn't think it was hard at all and I took a LOT of classes. I feel like life was so easy back then... college leaves you with so much free time.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
It wasn't so bad at the beginning. If you prioritize and schedule things properly, you can keep a high GPA. I danced weekends my first 2 semesters no problem.
But now I'm getting into harder science and math classes and it's definitely taking some getting used to. I ended up getting a vanilla weekend job because it worked better with my sleep/study schedule. I have to do a lot of memorization these next 2 semesters and the lack of proper sleep was not doing well for my retention. Also, on the occasion i was called in for night shift, it was still quiet enough to get some studying in.
My advice is to dance as much as possible during school breaks and during easy semesters. Once you get into your harder stuff, it might start to get a bit rough. And while I gotta say that my science courses are super intense (some of my professors teach at the med school close by), i do not envy the humanities majors writing 20 page papers.
I'll repeat it again. Prioritize and schedule your time properly. And be sure to save up money when you work over breaks.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
I did my general education/prerequisites at a community college and honestly it was a breeze dancing part-time and going to school full time. I would bundle all of my classes into 2 days and work 1-2 shifts on the weekends. Around mid-terms and finals, I wouldn't go into work. However, now I'm in the nursing program and it's impossible to work as a stripper and be a full-time nursing student. I have clinicals twice a week at 7 am, a test and/or big assignment every week, and I don't want to dance in the city I go to school in. What I'm doing now is going super hard during my breaks. However, I can't say I recommend it because I don't really feel like I have much of a vacation. But at least I have money and *hopefully* will have zero debt when I graduate.
Also, I've never lived in a dorm. I've either lived alone or with room-mates.
Re: Dancers who worked through college: What's your experience been like?
Stripping and studying were hard enough for me, and I've seen plenty of stripper mums, I can't imagine doing the combination. I know one dancer who put of studying until her son was old enough to go to school. What were you thinking of studying?