When I was a freshman, I looked forward to my senior year. I had it all planned out: It was going to be easy. I planned to have minimal solid classes and tons of free time. Now, I look back on that idea and laugh.

Not only do I have a full class load, I have a part-time job. However, this situation was not planned; my job at Plato’s Closet started as summer employment. Even though my dad was completely convinced that they would decide to keep me on permanently, I was still skeptical.

But, at the end of the summer, my dad’s assertion turned out to be correct. I was offered permanent employment, and with it came a crazy schedule. Currently, I work from 17 to 20 hours a week. Usually I work two or three weeknights and about eight to 10 hours on the weekend. While this is not the lazy schedule I had anticipated, I find it very rewarding.

Working while taking a nearly full class load is definitely a balancing act; it took some practice to get it right. Even though people tell me that I will regret not having tons of freedom my senior year, I doubt that I will feel this way.

Although my job takes up a decent chunk of my life, I don’t really feel like I am missing out on much. My managers have a pretty good system for requesting time off. So, if I have one week’s notice, I can pretty much get time off whenever I need it. Besides, I’m not usually the type of person to plan spontaneous outings anyway.

For me, having a job has been a huge learning experience. Because I have grown up in such a sheltered, Christian environment, having a job was a bit of a wake up call.

Obviously, I knew that everyone in the world was not a Christian; I was not that