Monday, May 14, 2012

Student vs Working Man

As I do my best to keep up my blog this year (and hopefully years after this one), I still don't post as often as I would like, or as often as I should. Not that there's any pressure to keep this blog up to date, it probably will serve no purpose other then reminding my future self of what my life was like at this time. But in order for me to do that properly I should be posting more regularly.

This years return to my blog began with a very lengthy post of what lay ahead for me in 2012. I had started the year with a full plate that will keep me occupied for some time and since that first post 3 months has already passed and a lot has happened. At least a lot of Uni work. Because who would of thought, Uni is hard work and very time consuming.

Once upon a time when I was a 'working man' with nothing but a Job that would occupy half or most of my days I would often scoff at Uni students who said they had it tough. I would think 'how easy' Uni students got it and how they were 'always on holidays' and barely at Uni. From an outside perspective it seemed they weren't doing much. I always thought you had to be smart to go to Uni but with my friends seeming like they were always on holidays I didn't think they did a lot. I would always see people from Uni out on the weekends, or on Uni night and going to parties. And then every time I turned around they were on holidays for like a month! I used to work 4.30am most weekends out on the back dock of Woolworths, which was freezing in winter and hard work. 'Uni students don't know what tough is', I would think. And the discounts! Student prices. I would get frustrated that they got things cheaper. Just because I worked didn't mean I could always afford things, I wanted a discount too!

Now, I have a full stomach because I've had to eat my own words. Since starting Uni I've come to the conclusion that those Uni students who were always out on the town and never appearing to do Uni was either because they were bludgers and not doing all their work, or they were doing a shit load of work that I never saw them do. Either way I'm understanding that even with all the holidays you might get at Uni, they are well deserved. If your a hard working Uni student that is.

Now I go on Uni holidays in 3 weeks and have a break for at least a month and I gotta tell you I can't wait to have some time off. While Uni might not seem as physically demanding as my previous job I will say that at times it can take it's toll. With assignments always in the back of your mind it's a different kind of stress then I used to experience at Lawrence and Hanson. At L&H when the day finished I could forget about things and go home to relax. Uni doesn't stop and wait, it's always there until you complete it, there's no going home to rest if you have an assignment due the next day. And as for physically demanding regarding Uni, there's only so many late nights / early mornings or all nighters the body can handle before it wants to shut down and rest.

Now people might be inclined to argue that it's the 'working man' that has it tougher, while others will say that the 'Uni Student' has it pretty tough depending on which side of the fence they sit on. I find myself in a somewhat unique position of experiencing being a full time working man before becoming a full time Uni Student and only casual working man. Ive experienced both sides and I think I can safely say they are both difficult in their own ways. But I think that that's just life, It ain't easy no matter what your doing. And while there are times that Uni can be a bit of a struggle I would never go back on my decision to go. I'm glad to be calling myself a Uni student and I know the hard work is going to pay off.

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