By Jethro Bryan Andrada
Xyle Magdamit closes his laptop after a long day of accomplishing school requirements. He removes his glasses, massages his temples, and takes a look at the clock on his desk. 11:30 p.m. Most students would be getting ready for bed or bingeing their favorite TV series at this hour. Not him. After a quick trip to the kitchen for a fresh mug of coffee, he reopens his laptop and logs in to his work website where a fresh batch of tasks awaits him.
The same goes for Kate Tayco. Instead of resting, she pulls up a message from her boss who’s demanding updates on her last assignment. Another message pops up on her inbox: her group mates in school asking where her share in their final output was. She shrugs off how tired she is, deciding she would not sleep till she has finished all her backlogs. With a sigh, she steels herself for another exhausting night in an already exhausting school year.
Both of them would only get some shuteye at around 3:00 a.m., only to wake up at about 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. the next day and repeat the whole cycle all over again.
Online learning has practically left all students beaten and battered. Even those who have enough gadgets and a steady internet connection are finding it hard to keep up with mounting deadlines. For the underprivileged, however, the struggle is twice as difficult.
COVID-19 and its economic impact has divided students into the haves and have-nots; and unfortunately for some of the have-nots, this means being forced to find a job while attending school at the same time.
No choice
Xyle, a freshman at UP Diliman, had not planned on being a working student, but a looming financial crisis in his family had forced him to go job-hunting. After a few weeks of scouring websites for job openings, he eventually landed a freelance transcribing gig.
“Yung trabaho ng parents ko ay affected. In fact yung contract ng papa ko sa ibang bansa ay nag-end na so uuwi na siya, si mama naman reduced working hours na lang,” he said.
(My parents’ jobs are affected. In fact, my dad’s job contract in the country he works in has already ended, so he’s about to go home. On the other hand, my mom’s working hours have also been reduced.)
He had also contracted COVID-19 last April, causing him to fall behind in school. By the time he recovered, he saw no hope in catching up.
“Hindi na talaga ko nakakapgsubmit ng requirements, di ako nakakaattend ng klase ko and all that kaya I felt like my time and effort nasasayang lang,” he relented, “since affected naman trabaho ng parents ko, and ongoing pa rin ang bills pero yung salary nila bumaba pa, naisip ko maghanap na lang ako ng trabaho.”
(I really couldn’t submit requirements, I couldn’t attend classes, and all that so I felt like my time and effort were just being wasted, he relented, since my parents’ job were affected, and our bills were still ongoing, I thought I should just find a job.)
Kate, a third year student from UP Baguio and a working student for five years, said she was not dead-set on working full-time before COVID. “Noong una wala talagang bearing yung pandemic sa pag-decide kong maging working student. Ginagawa ko lang kasi bored ako and gusto kong nachachallenge, pero nag-iba nung pandemic.”
(At first, the pandemic didn’t have a bearing on why I wanted to become a working student. I did it just because I was bored and I wanted a challenge, but everything changed when the pandemic came.)
She has worked as a tutor and a waitress in the past. Now, she is a virtual assistant for a wedding planner in New Jersey.
“Noong naapektuhan na yung businesses namin sa probinsya, doon parang naobliga ako na magseryoso sa work.” She adds.
(When our businesses in the province started to lose profit, that’s when I was obligated to take work seriously, she adds.)
Three roles, one person
Both Xyle and Kate are no strangers at balancing school with responsibilities at home. The challenge is fitting work into the equation. Xyle, who has been working for only a month, says he has had to readjust his entire schedule to get all his responsibilities done.
“Sobrang hirap talaga. Kailangan kong balansehin yung buhay ko bilang estudyante, tapos yung trabaho ko pa at responsibility dito sa bahay,” he relayed, “sa time na ‘to wala akong oras na dapat sayangin kung gustong kong maaccomplish yung mga roles na yon.”
(It’s really hard. I have to balance my life as a student with my job and my responsilities at home, he relayed, I don’t have the luxury of wasting time if I want to accomplish all I have to do for these roles)
Unlike him, Kate’s five-year work experience has made her adept at multitasking, though she admits she still finds it hard to do certain tasks because of how tiring they are.
“Especially if need mo magsulat ng blog,” she vented, “medyo draining siya, then magsusulat din sa school, kaya feeling ko parang wala na kong masulat, kaya I take a break sometimes pero nagreresult siya sa procrastination.”
(Especially if you have to write a blog, she vented, it’s draining, then you have to write in school, too. I feel like I’m running out of words to write, so I take a break sometimes but that ends up in procrastination.)
Both of them had relatively the same answer when asked what techniques they used to juggle all their tasks: proper scheduling.
“More on routine sya. Like I allot time na for school and for work. Mostly midnight ako nag-aaral kasi mas tahimik and mas nakakaconcentrate ako,” Kate said.
(It’s more of a routine. Like, I allot time for school and for work. I study mostly at midnight because it’s quieter and I can concentrate, Kate said.)
“Bawat gabi, before I go to sleep kailangan nakalatag na lahat ng gagawin ko the next day,” Xyle replied, “in most cases, naglalagay talaga ko ng oras para may guide ako kung kailan ko need matapos yung isang task.”
(Every night, before I go to sleep, everything I have to do the next day should be ready, Xyle replied, in most cases, I put time slots as guides about when I have to finish a task.)
Fallout
These techniques are not infallible, however, as both their sleep schedules are suffering from their demanding lifestyles.
“Napupuyat ako talaga,” Xyle admits, “tulog ako usually ng alas tres ganyan, tapos ang gising ko alas siyete.”
(I stay up late, Xyle admits, I usually sleep at around three, then I wake up at seven)
Kate let out a forced laugh. “Dahil full time student and full-time VA ako with freelancing clients din, yung tulog ko mahaba na yung five hours. Challenging siya kasi if yung katawan ko ang bumigay, apektado work and schooling ko.”
(Because I’m a full time student and VA with freelancing clients, five hours is already a long time for sleep. It’s challenging because if my body gives in, my work and schooling will be affected)
Both also admit that their working and studying comes at the expense of their mental health.
“Sobrang grabe ng effect niya (pandemic) mental health-wise. Kung dati takot ako sa deadlines, ngayon ‘di na,” Xyle admitted, “kung ano na lang talaga yung kaya ko, ‘yon na lang ginagawa ko dahil pagod na pagod na ko.”
(It really has a huge effect [pandemic] mental-health wise. If I was afraid of deadlines then, now I’m not, Xyle admitted, I only submit what I can finish because I am so so tired.)
Kate, on the other hand, says she still strives to do her best, but that her power-through attitude has caused her to hit her breaking point a number of times.
“Ayon, sometimes, medyo frustrated lang ako if hindi ko nagagawa nang successful and maayos yung mga tasks sa’kin,” she said, eyes downcast, “to be honest, minsan maiiyak ka na lang kasi iisipin mo na hindi mo kaya talagang pagsabayin.”
(Sometimes I feel frustrated because if I can’t do some of my tasks successfully, she said, eyes downcast, to be honest, sometimes you’ll really just find yourself crying because you realize you can’t do multiple things at the same time.)
A matter of privilege
Though Xyle and Kate were only forced to make ends meet by working, they said they now preferred it over schooling, due in part to the online nature education has taken on since the pandemic hit the country.
“Working ang mas fulfilling para sa’ken,” Kate said, not even thinking twice, “kasi sa setup ng school ko ngayon, sobrang hirap yung pag-digest ng lessons, and parang for compliance's sake na lang yung mga activities.”
(Working is more fulfilling for me, Kate said, not even thinking twice, in the setup of school today, it’s so hard to digest lessons, and everything I do feels like it’s only for compliance’s sake)
“Definitely working sa ganitong setup,” Xyle agreed, “nahihirapan akong mag-aral. Super fast-paced ng lahat ng bagay na I felt like robot ako na super output-producing pero di man lang natututo. At least dito (work), I can help my parents by paying our bills.”
(Definitely working in this setup, Xyle agreed, I find it hard to study. Everything is super fast-paced that I feel like a robot that’s super output-producing, but I’m not really learning anything. At least here [work] I can help my parents out by paying our bills)
The two, however, discouraged others from being working students themselves.
“I won’t encourage them to do this, not unless they really need to, kasi hindi sya madali talaga,” Kate relented.
(Because it’s not really easy)
“I won’t recommend it, actually. Kasi sobrang bigat nang maging working student nang walang pandemya, eh idagdag mo pang may pandemya na super taxing, diba?” Xyle explained.
(It’s already so hard to be a working student when there was no pandemic, what more now when there’s a pandemic that’s super taxing? Xyle explained)
Both agreed that if a student were privileged enough, he should just focus on his studies.
“In my case, I had to (work) lang talaga, pero if you are privileged enough, aral ka na lang,” Xyle said, “kasi I wouldn’t wish my current situation on anyone.”
(In my case, I really just had to work, but if you are privileged enough, just study, Xyle said, because I wouldn’t wish my current situation on anyone)
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