What is like to be a student worker?

So, from now on, I’ll tell you guys my experience from the beginning.
Almost a year and a half ago, I was finishing my college degree and I started a internship at LOBA.cx. Cool right? The experience was great and I was working on a major project for the company that year and at the end of the internship I was able to get a contract offer from them.

That’s great and now? Now the things are getting better and better. I accepted their offer and now I’m a backend software developer and QA analyst, here in Portugal. But I needed more…

I was thinking very seriously in starting a bachelor’s degree in software engineering in order to develop my skills and work ethic. The summer reaches his final stage and I’ve decided to take a break and earn some experience and start my bachelor’s degree in the next year, but things don’t worked out as I planned… Surprisingly, one of the universtities that I was interested to join was accepting students for the bachelor’s courses at a second stage.

This happened in October 2018, and I was not ready to that, still I decided to gamble my chances and applied to one of opennings at Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra (ISEC) and I managed to enter to my bachelor in this year!

That’s how my student worker chapter beguns!

I wasn’t ready and fully prepared for this experience that I can tell, but I faced this with passion and I’m enjoying every second of it.
So what’s the worst thing about being a student worker? The schedule!
That’s the main reason for your tiredness. Since I was working 8 hours a day, and my job is 88 kilometers (55 miles) away from the university, I needed some changes. I started to work only 7 hours a day and managed to arrive in time to the college because I only had post-work classes.
So, my daily schedule did not leave me time to do other things, like studying or exercising. I started my day at 8am and I finished it at 2am, it’s only 6 hour sleep until you start your normal routine again.
What time do you have left? The weekends.

With this crazy routine sooner or later you’re going to need some important rest. I can only rest at weekends, but it’s a short rest!
On the weekends, I had to be able to study the subject of the previous week, the subject that may appear in the exam next week and I needed to spend time with my family and friends because their all you’ve got! Crazy weekends rigth?
The most important thing about this experience is motivation. If you don’t have enough motivation and dedication you’ll have hard times.
It’s not easy to feel tired, nervous and stressed out all the time, but you have to gain confidence and motivation to start the next day! I like to think that all the efforts and all the things you give and do, life will give you back twice as much, it’s like a reward!

At the moment I’m writing, my first year is coming to an end and the overall balance that I take of it is excellent!
I met great people, made friends and studied, but I studied hard to complete all the courses I had during the year.
I learn about algorithm, C language, Computer Architecture, CG, Math analysis and other great stuff that’s going to help me through life.
Finally, despite all the fatigue and crazy routine I do not regret at any time to have started this adventure!

I hope that you enjoy this article as much as I enjoyed the experience! If you want to hear more about me and my experiences, please clap and share with someone that needs it! ❤

Comments

[Bernhard Wittmann]

Hey Alexandre,

First of all I admire your dedication and the challenge you are stepping up to.

I also worked as a developer during my bachelor degree and I just wanted to confirm the importance of getting enough rest. Although such intense times can be a huge learning experience it should not come at the expense of ones well-being. Therefore I am very glad you found the right balance for yourself and I hope that others can achieve that too :)

[Alexandre Reis]

Hey Bernhard,

I'm glad that you related with my personal experience.

I've written this article on Medium, months ago, but I decided to share it here, in order to get feedback and other stories about people that find the correct balance for themselves!

Here in Portugal, the bachelor degree is 3 years long, and I'm currently on the second one, and I must say that I can see the difference in knowledge!

Thank you so much for your comment!