I say "phone call", but you will likely get many many phone calls like this. Especially during your first few years, when you don't have a stable source of income and you're trying to adjust to all these situations where you can spend like crazy. I'm not sure what you and mom will want you to do, but I didn't have a very serious job my first year and a half. I was given a monthly allowance and had some money saved from working in high school. So, the trick is learning how to spend the little money you do have. When it comes to being thrify...I'm your girl:
a - Savor
your meal points. It's something you'll learn as you go, but take advantage of
Emporium and the likes. These are places where you can spend your extra meal
points that you didn't use in the dining halls.
b - Don't go
to Walmart. Walmart is a TRICK. You go there, thinking all you need is some
milk, shampoo and 3M wall-hook and on your way to the wall-hooks you see some
candles, so you stop to smell them and end up buying two pictures frames, a bag
of Doritos and a coffee mug. It doesn't make sense, but it happens. The only
way to avoid this unnecessary spending, is just to avoid Walmart. Living on
campus, with meal points, there is really no reason to go to Walmart more than
once a month for the necessities.
c - Beware
of sorority merchandise. Especially your first year, you'll want to buy
EVERYTHING. But slow down. You've got four years of merchandise to buy and once
you actually see the physical merchandise, you regret like 40% of the
purchases. Be picky. You don't have to get everything everyone else gets. If
you need a good eye, ask me. I will tell you if it will actually be cute or not.
d - All the
shopping here sucks. Seriously, we just got a Franchesca's and that's the best
there is. I mean, Target is the BOMB, obviously, but the other stores in the
mall are crappy. There's a Vicky's Secret...which will please you, I know. The
boutiques downtown are too pricey. Just avoid shopping
unless you need something quickly. Try to plan ahead so you can better spend
your money when you are in Springfield or STL or KC where there are good stores
and selections to chose from.
e - Don't
eat out at restaurants. Look. ALL YOUR MEALS ARE ESSENTIALLY FREE FOR YOU AT
THE DINING HALLS. Savor that stuff. God knows I will. You're going to be
"swiping me in"* on the reg. There are so many options and someone
else has already prepared it for you. Ooooh it's so great. So don't eat out at
restaurants. I mean, obviously you will. You can walk downtown and get some
great options, but try and do so sparingly. You WILL do this a lot
Junior/Senior year, so don't worry about missing out.
* This is a
popular phrase that describes the process of you swiping your student ID (how
you pay for your meals in the dining hall) once for you and once for ME. So
that I, too, may eat for free.
f - Take advantage of free things on campus. It's
hard to control your spending habits. Especially when there are so many
fun things to do with friends that only cost $10 here and there. But,
there are a lot of great, fun things to do on campus that are free too!
- Wednesday and Saturday nights are usually $1 movies.
- There are free Friday Craftnoons at the Art Center.
- Stich-n-Bitch...that's a thing, though I've never done it.
- The Shack is the newest addition to the Student Center and it has pool tables and board games and darts.
- Newsflash: our campus is a BOTANICAL GARDEN. That means there are flowers and trees that are just beautiful! I could walk around on a nice day for hours in this place. Plus, the nice weather brings out the weirdos, so people watching can be considered an activity in itself.
- Ultimate frisbee, sand volleyball, soccer. All are available on our outdoors intramurals fields (which we call Stank).
- The Rec Center is BOMB. You can swim (indoors and out), there's a hot tub and a sauna, racquetball, rock climbing, a ping pong room (if you don't mind the company of Asians).
- Adventure off-campus to Devil's Ice Box.
- On that note, there are like 64 parks in Columbia. So many trails and forests and cool places to walk around. Sometimes, when Emilie Bell and I had a test that wasn't too serious, we would take our study guide and study while we walked.
- Bonker's is a ridiculous kid's play place (like the Discovery Zone, if you recall) and it's only $1 if you're over 18.
There are so many things to do on campus (and off) that don't cost a thing. Mizzou publishes semesterly schedules to the events and on-goings, so if you pick one of those up, you can get the scoop on what is going on.
So then, at
some point, you realize...you have to get a job. Shucks.
Here's
another list!
a - Start
talking. Your friends have jobs. Your older sister has had jobs. The people you
know, know about jobs. So start asking around! This is your first opportunity
to take advantage of your networking...a concept that will be pounded into your
mind as you start looking for a career. Think how many college kids here are
applying for jobs...what makes you any better than them? (Actually, you do have
experience in retail, which is more than I could say when I got my first job.)
You can get a recommendation from a friend who works there. Winner winner.
b - Start
asking. The first thing I did was just headed downtown and walked in any place
I thought seemed interesting. "Hi, my name is Kaitlin and I was wondering
if you are hiring? Could I get an application?" If I had a dollar for
every time I said that, I wouldn't have even needed a job. After downtown, make your rounds of the
mall. There are a lot of place (and therefore applications) in a short distance.
c - Fill
out and turn in your applications. Just do it. It's annoying and inconvenient.
But you just have to do it. When you turn in the application, ask if the Hiring
Manager is there and if so, give the application directly to him and smile and
be wonderful and be someone he will remember when he looks at your application.
d - Follow
up. Actually, this is very annoying to the manager and the employees who have
to answer your phone calls. But if you are really interested in a place, call
and ask to speak to the Hiring Manager. Remind him of your pleasant, happy
voice and just put your name out there again.
e - Get hired! Once you hear back and accept and go through all the rig-a-ma-role of hiring paperwork, you'll be ready to start. So, you'll fill out a sheet of your availability. Now, don't try to an overachiever. You can always request more hours, but it's very hard to back out of hours that you've been working. And college requires strange hours for studying and group meetings, etc. You need to leave some nights open so you can have a little freedom. I recommend starting with, at the most, 20 hours a week. Then, once you get better at managing your time, you can start working more. By the time I left MC Sports, I was working 30 hours a week and it suited me just fine.
f - Value your time. It may seem like it would be difficult to work a lot and still make time for school. Especially at mall jobs, where you probably won't get off work till around 10PM. But I always thought it just made my time more valuable. When you get off work and only have four hours to prepare for a test the next, you aren't messin' around on Facebook for an hour before you start. You get home, you pack up, you walk to the library and you study. I was a better student when I worked Junior year than when I didn't work Sophomore year. Also, it doesn't mean that you can't do fun things, it just means that you need to plan your fun things in advance and ask of work ahead of time.
Obviously, you are the bomb and you have already held a job. I've always respected you for that. I'm just offering you my wisdom on a job + college, because it's a little different I think.
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