Illustration of money.
—Once you have settled into your home in East Lansing, bought every last household item and school supply in Target, a realization might creep up on you – the whole college thing is quite expensive, and you might need to get a job.
It can be intimidating to navigate the new world of budgeting, bills and college jobs. Luckily, there are a lot of opportunities to find a job that is the perfect fit for you within the community.
Psychology junior Hafsa Khan started working at Foster’s Coffee Co. when she began attending MSU, soon after the location opened.
“I got to meet a ton of students,” Khan said. “I met people that were in my classes and everything and I met people from the community and they became regulars, so it made me feel pretty connected to the community of East Lansing.”
Khan said while there are plenty of coffee shops in the East Lansing area, working at Foster’s provides a unique experience.
“It is such a close-knit environment, like everybody you work with becomes your absolute best friend,” Khan said. “Working is never unenjoyable like you could be doing dishes for like three hours, but it's never boring. You get to blare your music in the back. You're having fun messing around but like you're still getting work done.”
Khan said Foster’s is the perfect job for a freshman in college because she could work around her new schedule easily.
“At first it was a challenge just because I was learning about how to manage my time – that's what freshman year is all about,” Khan said. “They really do sit down with you like when before school starts or whenever you start working and they're like, ‘Okay, what is your school schedule? Is this feasible for you? Is this good for your mental health? How much can you work?’ They do really help you out.”
Khan said the free coffee was also a plus, making it the perfect job for “coffee addicts” like herself.
Education senior Paige Drob was able to find students with similar interests by working as a DJ training director at Impact 89FM, MSU’s student radio.
“I would definitely recommend it because it's such a cool community of people,” Drob said. “It's a radio station almost completely run by students, so everyone is pretty lenient with schedules when it comes to school. You never have to miss a class or have to not study for your exam because you have to go to something.”
If you love music, Drob said, Impact 89FM is a great place to work and learn from others around you.
Drob also worked as a undergraduate learning assistant for a physics course. She did homework grading, ran a schoolwork help room and facilitated small group discussions in class. Best of all, her work schedule never interfered with her schoolwork.
“The thing I really liked is the schedule was really consistent,” Drob said. ”It’s a very set time you do your thing every week.”
On top of working throughout school, Drob has a piece of advice for students who want to try to save money: take advantage of your dining plan.
“Eat in the dining hall and use your combo exchanges as much as possible,” Drob said. “It can be very tempting to DoorDash or go and walk on Grand River and order some food but when you're paying for a dining plan, it's definitely not worth it.”
MSU Federal Credit Union, or MSUFCU, offers many resources for students seeking to learn how to budget, save and practice financial literacy. MSUFCU chief marketing officer Diedre Davis said one of the largest things they emphasize is the habit of “paying yourself first.”
“If you pay yourself first, then you're much more likely to effectively save for the future,” Davis said. “Whether it's $1 every time or $100, every time money is coming in, if you pay yourself first, it's out of sight out of mind. If you can automate that process, again, that just makes it much more effective and helps ensure that you will have money saved for that rainy day in the future.”
MSUFCU also hosts “Financial 4.0” education sessions on campus and through webinars. Each session ranges from 30 to 45 minutes and they each cover one financial education topic.
“Those topics are things like budgeting, investing basics, housing considerations, looking at compensation and benefits,” Davis said. “Students will learn how to identify what you're going to spend money on, what maybe is a motivation for spending, how you can learn to spend with intention.”
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David said each class helps students understand how to meet their short-term and long-term financial goals.
Students can learn more about MSUFCU's resources on their website.
This story is part of our 2022 Welcome Week print issue. Read the entire issue here.
