I am a college student and, like many other college students around the U.S. and right here at N.C. State, I am not only overwhelmed with schoolwork, but I am broke. Not just the “I only have like 50 bucks in my bank account broke,” but the legit “I am begging my parents for $20 every week” broke. Why am I so broke, you may ask? Well, it’s pretty simple: When it comes to looking for a job and being a college student, the two do not seem to always go hand in hand.

A school as big as N.C. State should be able to provide jobs for their large student population. Many students do have jobs on campus; however, I would say a large portion of the students who have jobs on campus have them because of work study. I think it is great colleges allow students to work on campus. What I don’t think is so wonderful is that if a student, like myself, gets no financial aid, we are basically screwed and left with no work study and no job. What are we to do?

I’ll tell you what we – the broke people unable to obtain a work study position on campus – are supposed to do: look online, get on the CAT bus and search for jobs outside of campus. Because you will not find one on campus, trust me. Maybe it is just my bad luck, but I have applied for several jobs on campus and have not obtained one position. But the moment I hop on the bus and go over to Crabtree Valley Mall, I am able to get one interview after another. Yet I cannot even get the C-store to look at my application. It is so frustrating.

What I do not understand about the whole Work Study thing is these students are getting aid from the University. So why in the world would the school continue to give them money? Why wouldn’t the school give the jobs to those who did not get financial aid and who, more than likely, need it a bit more? Just because we do not get financial aid does not mean we are rolling in money. All of our money or our parents’ money is going to the school. I am pretty sure, on top of all the thousands of dollars our parents give toward tuition, they wouldn’t mind if we didn’t have to ask them for more money on top of it.

The wonderful thing about work study jobs is they are on campus, which means one does not have to walk far to get to work. Also, the hours are very flexible because they understand much more than an off-campus job that you have classes, organizations and prior commitments. But, the moment we have to step off-campus to find a job, it becomes a burden and unfair. It is this way because, for those who do not have a car, we have to rely on public transportation, which isn’t always so reliable. It is hard to be a college student who is broke and forced to go outside our own campus – that has numerous jobs – because we are unable to have an on-campus job due to the high number of students participating in work study.

This system is unfair and unjust. I want a job on campus so I do not have to get on a bus and go 15 minutes away from campus just to make money. I do not think I am asking for a lot. It’s not because I am lazy; it is because I am a college student. I have a lot going on and it is hard to get a department store at the mall to understand that I need very flexible hours. They would rather hire someone who can work more hours without classes, organizations and homework getting in the way of their work schedule. N.C. State should work toward providing more on-campus jobs to students.