Maximizing School-Life Balance for Optimal Academic Performance - Essay Sample

Introduction

The major I am undertaking is quite involving and time-consuming. Having to juggle between school and work, and finding time for fun and friends are some of the problems that I have to face as long as I am still a student. Many students, too, are in the dilemma of knowing how and what to do so they can have a school-life balance without tampering with one. Often, it is not easy, but some have a balanced school and life aspect while doing good in their majors. To optimize the functioning for both, it is necessary that a student, like myself, taking a major to balance between the roles that one plays. The functions of a student, such as being a classmate, friend, worker, and partner, can conflict, thus making one not to perform well in their (Martinez et al.). This essay discusses school, work, and life balance as a significant issue as I pursue my major. It stresses the importance of having a balance instead of working on one while neglecting the others.

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Fashion buyers who are still concentrating on their majors can excel in both fields if they have inept skills in time management to balance their school and work. They are also cautious in taking too much responsibility that can lead to one aspect being given less or more attention than the other. Pew Research reports that females are more likely to juggle between academics and work than their male counterparts. Various reasons can make someone want to work while studying. Where the reasons can be personal or professional depending on the purpose that one has when wanting to do so. In some cases, the individuals are forced to take the initiative due to financial difficulties, while others may want to do it to keep their time occupied. However, there are those individuals who undertake it due to professional reasons and the need to have prior knowledge and experience before they can graduate from college. However, there needs to be professional guidance.

The biggest motivator for most people is money as they enter the workforce. Their expenses would sometime force them to start looking for an extra source of getting money rather than just concentrating on student loans. Students are employed in different sectors such as fashion merchandising, golf courses, landscaping, swimming pools, movie theaters, fast food, retail, and grocery stores. Working and being a fashion buyer, at the same time, helps the students to enjoy the challenges, personal satisfaction, and responsibility that comes with being valued and appreciated as an employee. These challenges can later be faced, and it would be easier to tackle them already; one has prior knowledge on how to deal with them.

Also, when someone starts working from an early age, it looks good for their resume and shows employers in the future that they are goal-oriented, dependable, and mature. Fashion buying provides the opportunity of having the leverage to handle both aspects because, at most times, it is not so much time-consuming. It can be accommodative, and the people in it can find it easy to balance their work and education if they find themselves in such situations.

Fashion buying as a career presents a lot of opportunities. As much as having to juggle between course work and other balance is essential, it is good to always concentrate on what has the best eventual returns, which in this case is concentrating on course work. It is through course work that someone can easily show they are committed to being better in their eventual careers. If one is lazy and does not take the schoolwork seriously, there are high chances that they would be doing the same when they eventually start on their careers. Some advantageous results for focusing on what is needed in the career while concentrating on the major include having to know how to keep up with pressure. It can be quite a difficult task being in the fashion buying industry while at the same time concentrating on studies (Shaikh). However, it does get easier even when schooling is done, and the work environment has a lot of pressure that has to be dealt with daily. The fashion buying industry, for instance, has a lot of involvement with people who will always put a lot of pressure on the workers because they all want perfection. Also, the competition within the industry is difficult to keep up with, especially among the companies that are well-known in the mainstream.

Working in fashion buying helps to sharpen imagination skills. It can be highly innovative for those who want to gain real-life experience and narrowing down on the list of possible careers to be undertaken. When one achieves success in their job, they can easily transfer the same confidence to other areas in school and hence can make them perform even better. They can easily know how to present their issues to their teachers and can comfortable with since they are used with such interactions even from their employers. Confidence is an aspect needed in the cooperate world. When it is replicated in the activities we do at school, and there is a likelihood that it can help in elevating performance.

For a fashion buyer, balancing work and school can, at times, be inevitable. There are times when someone can be forced to telecommute and have to maintain performance as require a combination of different factors that are all put to work out together. Working while going to school allows for productivity at different scales. A fashion buyer needs a lot of time to perfect their work and have the best outcome in their lines of work. As such, it means it will be time-consuming, making it difficult to get enough time to concentrate on their studies. It becomes difficult to focus on both tasks without being distracted. Such a scenario can lead to poor performance on both spectra. The individual would perform poorly at their work and in school, especially if they are not used to a lot of pressure and multitasking. They, however, learn this valuable skill during such a time. The students also learn first-hand skills at leadership, extracurricular participation, and community service. They are risking to get a few dollars at the stake of the future career.

For optimal academic performance, there needs to be a school-life balance. Often, students prioritize their major at the expense of personal factors such as exercise and relationships (Munjal). This aspect can result in a general decline in academic performance since the body requires optimal functioning, wellbeing, and health to enable optimal functioning in academics. Without a well-functioning body, it would be challenging to get all that is needed and have the cognitive ability to grasp and keep up with the course. All these elements are essential to ensure that one does well in the major they have chosen. For instance, I always make sure that I have some balance and clear my mind whenever there are a lot of academic things that I have to go through. It always helps and has been a way of me scoring good grades in school despite it being a challenging activity and task.

To attend and refute the view-points that I have regarding the subject, a balanced academic life can sometimes take a toll on someone's perspectives regarding what or not are important for a balanced life. Those who take a lot of their time learning tend not to develop or cultivate some virtues and skills that are equally important in life. The one-sidedness can be detrimental, especially when everything does not go as planned in the long-run. Living diversified life is needed for one to be progressive. As a fashion buyer, it would be more beneficial to work solely without engaging in studies since there are more advantages to it. It is easier to concentrate and put more attention on it; hence there will be better results. Also, it will help in the academic aspect of life since the divided attention might be challenging, especially when one wants to get good results overall. When one wants exemplary results in the things they do, it is necessary that they put the maximum concentration in it as divided attention means they will concentrate half as much as they would have when all that is placed on one thing.

Nevertheless, it is reasonable to make the right decision that would be beneficial in the long run. It is good to make up the mind on whether to take some time off from school and work or to just concentrate on the major until the time comes to concentrate on career fully (Isaacs). According to a study conducted by Pew Research, students who entirely focus on their studies without working are more likely to land higher-paying jobs and to rise in ranks faster than those who leave school so they can work at some job they found. To explain this, it can be an aspect where delayed gratification also pays. On the same note, it leads to more competency regarding academic qualifications. Fashion buying as a career and studying are all hectic activities that require a well-planned method of approaching them both. It can be hard to concentrate on both, especially when one has not planned well or does not put their minds to what is needed.

Works Cited

Isaacs, David. "Work-Life Balance." Journal Of Paediatrics And Child Health, vol 52, no. 1, 2016, pp. 5-6. Wiley, doi:10.1111/jpc.13110.

Martinez, Edna et al. "Striving To Obtain A School-Work-Life Balance: The Full-Time Doctoral Student." International Journal Of Doctoral Studies, vol 8, 2013, pp. 039-059. Informing Science Institute, doi:10.28945/1765.

Munjal, Sourabh. "Work-Life-Integration Through Flexible Work Arrangements: A Holistic Approach To Work Life Balance." SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017. Elsevier BV, doi:10.2139/ssrn.3379084.

Shaikh, Ahmad. "Stress And Work-Life Balance Of School Teachers Of Nanded District From Maharashtra State: A Social Work Intervention." SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020. Elsevier BV, doi:10.2139/ssrn.3598971.