By Juliana Seaman
TAMPA, Fla. –– College is centered around learning and growing. Whether that comes from learning in a lecture or growing as a person, college enables prosperity. Going hand in hand with that growth, we are introduced to the responsibilities of adulthood as we grow older. Although adulthood may seem scary, college students practice it in many different ways.
Juggling several responsibilities at once is a substantial part of entering adulthood. Being enrolled as a full-time college student can illuminate tons of pressure, and adding responsibilities outside of school can almost feel impossible. Some students need to work in order to stay at school and to pay for housing, loans, bills, and transportation.
College life is not like how it is depicted in Pitch Perfect.
Alyssa Welhaf, a sophomore biology major at The University of Tampa, is one such student who manages to balance both work and school.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Welhaf moved to Florida for the opportunity to learn under the beautiful weather.
At UTampa, she attends classes Monday through Thursday. When she is not studying for her next biology exam, she is found waitressing at Ducky’s Sports Lounge, a local sports bar in Tampa.
While Welhf was on the hunt for a job, she stumbled upon this bar since it was in close proximity to her house off campus. Ducky’s flexible scheduling and consideration for the busy lives of college students sealed the deal for Welhaf, and with the huge inflatable duck sitting just above the building, she could not resist taking the job.
During the fall, when creating her schedule for the Spring 2025 semester, Welhaf wanted to spread her classes throughout the week to make room for her social life. This semester, she has a full schedule of classes; however, she has to balance her school life with the bills that still need to be paid.
“Taking 18 credits and working can definitely be stressful at times, but making sure I have a schedule and designated times where I can study around work before going into the week helps a lot,” said Welhaf.
Balancing stress is something that comes naturally for Welhaf. Before finding her job at Ducky’s, she used to play on the women’s collegiate soccer team for UTampa. For personal reasons, she decided to switch gears and find a different hobby. Although school is Welhaf’s top priority, she wanted something that would not consume so much of her time, such as working a part-time job. Her position at Ducky’s is providing her this balance.
While Welhaf experiences the responsibility of adulthood first-hand through her job, she has also learned to love it. With a busy school schedule and loads of homework, she saw her job at Ducky’s as an escape route. Adding to her school detox, Welhaf’s job allowed her extroverted nature to shine on both her customers and her coworkers.
“I love my coworkers and talking to people and regulars and just working in the service industry in general,” said Welhaf. “I think the only negative part about waitressing is the consistency of income. Some days I will walk out with a couple hundred [dollars] and sometimes less than 50.”
Working in the customer service industry has its ups and downs like any other job. Although waitressing is a part-time job, there are still some bad days. Being surrounded by friendly faces, such as coworkers, can always make a hard day’s work feel easier.
As college students, it can be said that finding a job is already difficult, but finding a job that is not too stressful is even harder.
Welhaf knew during her job hunt that she needed to work somewhere that would not inflict more troubles to her plate. She, like many other students, decided to take on the quickest way to make some extra cash: waitressing.
As Welhaf mentioned, making money off of tips is unpredictable and can be seen as an unsteady income. However, sometimes the thrill of meeting new customers and simply just being social can make the “bad money days” worth it.
Working while being in college should not be seen as a bad thing. Aside from the benefits of making money, there are many other factors that play into wanting to find a college job, such as meeting new people, making friends, and developing social skills. As we step into adulthood, we are trained to become the best versions of ourselves in and out of social environments, and having a customer service job is a great way to test those characteristics.
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Thumbnail Image courtesy of Juliana Seaman.