Should your son or daughter work while they are at university or college? For our family and for other families we know, it was not a question. It was simply the way it had to be. Was it a good idea? I believe it was.
Yes, it meant sometimes it was tight for students getting their required university work done, as well as holding down a part time job. It meant sometimes they had to sacrifice other interests to fit everything in. That in itself is teaching them something about life. That everything doesn’t always come easy.
It certainly didn’t mean they never had a social life. They still found time to socialize with friends but what it did teach them was the importance of having to work for what you want in life and not expecting to have everything handed to them on a platter. That’s something I think a lot of people, and not just one young people need to learn. They learnt to utilize the time they had.
One of the reasons universities and colleges often find mature aged students do well is that they have learned that secret. They know about hard work. They know how valuable education is and value the opportunity they have to further their education and ultimately their career and they’ve learned to prioritize. I was a mature aged student and I know it made me determined to do well in the course I’d chosen,
A teacher once told us children from government schools in Australia take more readily to university and are less likely to drip out than those from private, where they are used to more advantages. I wonder if that is because they know how important it is to get a good education and to make the best of opportunities as a springboard to changing their situation and getting a better job.
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