Tatiana Orr, an 18-year-old,
second-semester music major, is a
full-time student at Bucks, as well
as a full-time employee at Ann’s
Choice retirement community.
The 5’3, blonde hair, blue-eyed
Tat, as friends call her, juggles
classes Monday through Friday,
work weeks ranging anywhere
from 24 to 32 hours, family,
friends, a boyfriend, and a band.
How does she do it? The world
may never know.
A typical Monday for Tat is
a 6:30 am wake up, and about
an hour to shower, get dressed
and gathered for the day. Living
in Upper Moreland, it takes her
around 30 to 40 minutes to commute
to Bucks, where she takes
two classes from 9 am to 1:15pm,
then jets off to be at work by
3:00. She works a five-hour shift,
then uses the rest of her night for
various activities.
Tat likes to stay in shape, so she
may squeeze in a workout at the
gym. Or she may take the evening
to do homework for classes, or
practice with her band. They
try to write and play music as
often as possible, which is tough,
as they all share similar hectic
schedules.
Her band mates, twin brothers
Dane and Michael Hafler, are also
full-time students at Bucks and
are employed full-time at Ann’s
Choice with Tat. Both sophomores
planning on transferring to
Temple next fall, the boys know
full well the struggle of balancing
everything life has to offer.
For 20-year-old psychology
major, Dane, being a full time
student and working 20+ hours a
week doesn’t go without taking
its tolls. He takes four classes and
works five days straight. Each day
in his schedule is as packed and
complicated as the next, not only
struggling to fit in time for work,
school and sleep, but his other
many interests as well.
As mentioned earlier, he is in
a band, and he also engages in
many different hobbies such as
art, basketball, and playing his
favorite video games, League of
Legends. He also enjoys going
to the gym, long walks in Tyler
park, and oh, having a social life.
With a girlfriend, family, friends,
and three cats to attend to, it’s a
wonder he finds time to breathe.
“It’s a lot to handle but I feel
like it’s necessary to have a lot
of outlets for stress relief,” Dane
says of how he manages it all.
For his twin brother, Michael, a
physical therapy major, life isn’t
any easier. He juggles a girlfriend,
the band, the friends, family, and
cats, as well as three classes and
a 30-hour work week. And for
his next trick, he will be jumping
through a hoop of fire! Come
get your tickets now to see the
amazing wonders of the atomic
community college student!
Community college is often
seen as the safe choice for kids
who don’t know what they want
their major to be yet, or aren’t as
financially equipped as their peers
who have the means to go away
to four year schools. And don’t
get me wrong, community college
is a great choice, I’m happy to be
here, but honey, it ain’t a walk in
the park.
Community college students
don’t have it easy. In fact, the
community college experience
is arguably harder than that at a
university. Factor in jobs, classes,
commutes, extracurriculars, and
so on, and the load for the typical
community college student adds
up quickly.
For most university students,
academia is the main priority, as
it should be. Ask any four-year
college student, and they are
probably unemployed. Meals
and housing are available right
on campus, and usually there is
no commute at all; everything is
within walking distance.
For community college students
though, it isn’t that simple. We
have jobs, cars, classes, clubs,
and, you know, lives that we have
to attend to, all at once. And we
do it, too. No, we aren’t superhumans.
Yes, we are sleep deprived.
Our last student specimen
we’ll be looking at is 21-year-old
Jackie Kohl. You may know her
as the sarcastic, stormy gray-eyed
cashier at the Bucks’ café. Always
ready to check you out in her line
with a smile and a quick one-liner,
Jackie’s living that community
college student life, too.
For Jackie, her busy days are
Tuesdays and Thursdays. She
wakes up at 6 am, leaves home at
7:10 to arrive at Bucks for work
and clock in by 7:30. She takes
a break around 10:30, and from
there she works till 3:30. Depending
on the day, she’ll either head
home for a few hours, or stick
around the cafeteria helping out
with the many catering jobs our
lovely staff at Culinart provides.
She has class from 6pm till 8,
and then is usually home by 8:20.
She’ll shower and maybe pop on
a Netflix show, if that, “I’m so
exhausted I don’t have energy to
do anything else,” she says.
Please; for 20 cents a day, you
can help these overworked college
students find time to tie their
shoes.
Kidding. All jokes aside though,
this is a lot for a human to handle.
Yes, this is the real world, and yes
life gets jam packed and stressful
at times, but there should be some
kind of life break for students,
right? We’re just trying to learn
after all.