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STORY AND PHOTO SY JARED RREBLÊ
ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
Balancing employment and education can be a
nightmare for many individuals, which can either
result in one undermining the other or the students
avoiding one entirely. In an age of advancing
technology and ever-increasing tuition, online
schooling provides millions of students with a
flexible and sustainable path for á better price; For
former Clackamas Community College transfers and
Arizona State University graduates Jessica Bradley
and Sara Hodgkinson, online schooling was exactly
the platform they needed to succeed.
Both Bradley and Hodgkinson were employed at thé
local Starbucks across from the Oregon City campus;
while enrolled at CCC for a transfer degree Bradley
was approached by her manager who suggested she
take advantage of the full ride program for ASU. After ;
some hesitation, she decided to give one term of
online school a shot, “ I noticed that the world became
my classroom,” Bradley said. “ I wasn’t confined
to four walls and I could literally go anywhere and
listen to my lecture and go over my notes.” Starbucks
introduced the plan in June 2014 and has provided S
Clackamas Print
over 20,000 workers with tuition, according to
the ASU website. The plan requires workers to
have been employed for at least six months and
maintain a minimum of 20 hours in a work week.
Starbucks provides a 42% scholarship each semester
for undergraduate students, the employee is
responsible for paying the remainder. At the end of
the semester the remaining cost will be reimbursed
via the employees pay stub so long as they maintain
acceptable grades. This incentivizes students to push
through the process rather than turnon their heels
and run when midterms roll around.
I One of the most prominent challenges the pair
encountered was one that plagues any person
looking to succeed in their career or in life — time
management. “I f you can’t time manage it makes it
extremely difficult because it keeps coming,” said
Hodgkinson. “ I became a bit of a procrastinator
in College, that’s what I should have been better
about. I would have been way less stressed.” The key
fer Bradley and Hodgkinson was a planner and an
itemized list, respectively. “ I would write everything
for the week that I needed to get done,” Hodgkinson
said. “ Whether it was chapters, lectures or quizzes, I
had to write it down.”
While having a specially crafted work-school
schedule does alleviate much of the stress that
comes with the situation, the grind doesn’t just
come to a halt. “ I was the primary opener of my
store which means I was up serving coffee at four
in the morning,” said Bradley. “ Depending on the
time I’d go home, maybe take a nap and then start
homework.”
Both Bradley and Hodgkinson graduated in spring
with majors in psychology and are both employed at
CCC; they recommend their path to success to others
if they’re confident in their ability to manage time.
“ I think you have [to have] the right mindset for it,”
Hodgkinson said. “ Though I think it’s very doable for
everyone, but you have to be geared and ready to go.”
The OC Point Starbucks displays the certificates of
two graduates from ASU whose employer saw their
potential and encouraged them to push for a higher
education.
theclackam asprint.com —— ------ --------------------------- — ------
-N ovem ber 6, 2019