Live on Campus? You Should Be Working at the Dining Hall

I lived on campus my first year of college, and I worked in a dining hall for the last two months of spring semester. Now I realize that I should have been working there the whole time I lived on campus!

I thought working while in college might be too hard or stressful, but it wasn’t at all. Freshman classes are the easiest, so I would have been fine working the whole year, and made a lot more money. Here are the top six reasons why you should work at a dining hall if you live on campus:

1. If you are in college, you should have some sort of income, and this easy part-time job is a great way to make some money.

 You can work on paying down (or paying off!) your student loans early, or save up for next year’s tuition. Then again, everyone needs a little extra money for fun! If you’re not worried about paying for tuition and other college expenses, the money you earn at your job could just be extra spending money!

2. Dining halls are very conveniently located on campus, probably near your dorm.

That way, you can easily and safely walk to work. You won’t have to commute by car or bus off campus, so you’ll save money and time by not having to wait for a bus or sit in traffic.

3. Working in a dining hall is a good way to get exercise.

I didn’t realize how out of shape I was until I started working. Even if you’re simply washing dishes, being on your feet for a couple of hours strengthens your muscles and improves your endurance. Whether you’re clearing plates from tables, sweeping, or serving food, you’re burning more calories than if you were laying in your dorm room watching Netflix. Also, the simple tasks in a dining hall don’t take much brain power, so you can still study or do homework on work days without feeling overworked.

4. Your supervisors understand that you’re a college student, so they will work with you to make a schedule that fits your needs.

It’s harder to find a job other places that allow you to have such a flexible schedule. The dining hall I worked at even made a whole new schedule the last week of the semester for finals to accommodate our exams. Everyone still had to work, but we got to fill out a paper and choose which hours we wanted, which was very nice. I always had enough time to study, do my school work, and go to club meetings while I worked at the dining hall.

5. You’ll make new friends.

Most of the people working with you are college students who understand the struggle. You’ll easily make new friends once you see the same people working the same hours you are a few days a week!

6. You get free food!

You can most likely take a meal with you when you’re done with your shift. I worked at a buffet-style dining hall, so every time I worked, I got a plate of food and had to eat it there. That was great because I had the cheapest meal plan option there was, so it saved me a lot of meals. Since I ate free dinner at the dining hall when I worked, I had more than enough meals with my plan, so I ended up using my extra meals to store snacks, cereal, and drinks in my room and I took them home at the end of the year.