I didn’t work my way through college exactly as this recent New York Times piece describes, but I was close. Though I graduated with debt, it was less than a year’s worth of tuition, and it was mainly because I needed to student-teach during my final semester.
Unfortunately, that final semester turned out to be quite expensive.
With the exception of that final semester, however, I worked my way through college, and I would argue that I learned more from that experience than if my parents had paid for my education.
While attending college, first at Manchester Community College for three years and then at Trinity College and Saint Joseph’s University for another three, I worked 45 hours a week managing a McDonald’s restaurant.
It wasn’t easy to squeeze that many hours into a full class load, but I managed. I worked on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 4:30 AM until 1:00 PM before heading over to the college for afternoon and evening classes. I also worked from 4:30 AM to 2:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday, bringing my total hours each week to at least 45.
I also tutored at the Trinity College Writing Center for 10 hours a week, mostly on Tuesday and Thursday but also some evenings, especially near the end of the semester when final papers were due.
In 1997, as I began my first year at Trinity, I also launched my DJ company and began performing at weddings throughout Connecticut. During my final two years of college, I was booked for 23 and 45 weddings, respectively.
All of this was necessary in order to pay my bills and defray the cost of school. I paid for three years of community college without financial assistance, but my academic achievement and participation in student government earned me a two-thirds scholarship from Trinity College (and, by extension, Saint Joseph’s University).
I continued working to pay the remaining tuition, plus books, college fees, and living expenses (I owned a home off-campus). I attended both schools simultaneously and ultimately earned a Bachelor’s in English and a teaching certificate in elementary education.
Only during my final semester of college, which consisted entirely of student teaching, was I forced to take on a student loan. While that loan was considerable, it was a tiny fraction of my total education cost.
The six years that I attended college while managing a McDonald’s restaurant and running my business were some of the toughest years of my life, but I came away from that experience with a work ethic, an understanding of the importance of efficiency, and a level of self-confidence that I would not possess had my parents put me through school. In fact, for all the classroom learning I gained during that time, I believe I learned most from having to pay my own way and support myself.
Whenever I hear a friend complain about the stress of their job or the difficulty of the work, I think back on those six years of college and smile.
I managed a fast food restaurant to profitability, launched a small business, and graduated in the top 5% of my college class. It wasn’t because I’m smart, gifted, or lucky. I worked incredibly hard.
Nothing since then has ever been more difficult.
I am not as laid back as some people believe. I simply know how much harder life can be.
Knowing all this, I can’t help but wonder:
What should I do when my children are ready to attend college?
If I am able, should I send them off to school without any concern about tuition costs? Or should I require them to work as I did to learn the same lessons I did?
One of the cruelest things ever said to me came from my best friend as he was graduating college and I was preparing to move into my car. He said, “It’s a shame you didn’t go to college right out of high school and do things the traditional way. You would’ve loved taking classes and living on campus. You were made for that stuff. You would’ve been a great college student.”
He didn’t say it to hurt me, but it still hurts to this day.
While I appreciate my path to my college degrees, I never had the opportunity to attend college with people my own age and live on campus. College began humbly for me when I was 24 years old with an evening class called (unbelievable if you know my history) On Death and Dying. At that point, I owned a home and was on my way to being married.
Living in the dorms wasn’t an option.
How might my life be different if I’d had a more traditional four years of college like almost every one of my friends and colleagues?
Is the lesson learned by working your way through college worth the cost?
I’m still not sure.
