Making the decision to work while taking courses in the summer is something students really need to think about before saying yes to both given the time crunch summer presents.

This very decision was made by Van Tay, a recent graduate who finished his law and justice degree over the summer.

He was enrolled in twelve credits and worked fifteen hours in the Human Resources department on campus as a work study student Office Assistant and is currently working as an Event Specialist for Advantage Sales & Marketing on the weekends.

“I am working in HR to support myself and to save money for Graduate School. Although, working for HR will help me build my resume even better and maybe I might even look for jobs related to HR after I graduate,” Tay said.

While Tay was successful at balancing his work and school commitments, he wouldn’t recommend going that route to anyone.

“My advice would be to stay focused with school work first and keep up on your deadlines for assignments and I know how money is really important to everyone, but if you want to work, try to manage your schedule so that you have time to do homework and have some free time. Summer is all about having a relaxing summer not a stressed out summer.” Said Tay

Even though Tay is in the law and justice program he still wants to make sure he has a personal life.

“After graduating from the undergraduate program and getting accepted into the Masters 2019  program for Law & Justice, I was thrilled and so excited that I able to continue my education,” Tay said. “At first, I wanted to be a lawyer. But thinking about taking the LSAT might overwhelm me and it might take time away from my free time that I have between two jobs and going to classes.”

Some of Van’s job experiences include working on campus at the coffee stand, and various jobs off campus such as Fred Meyers, D&M Coffee, Valley Cafe, and Grocery Outlet throughout the years at Central.

“I believe that if you want to strive for success, you have to work hard to get wherever you need to be. At the end, every obstacles we face in the real world will turn from bad to good, negative to positive, and we will accomplish things at the end,” Tay said.