Elite skaters and their part-time jobs (article)

[Sylvia]

Several pair guys in Boston work part time - Tyler Harris is a shift manager at Starbucks

Harris tweeted last month that he was accepted into Starbucks' elite athlete assistance program.

Alex Johnson recently tweeted about having started a new job as a hotel valet and bellman.

[agalisgv]

you were only allowed to work a certain number of hours. I would have loved to work more hours and made more money.

Work study is always time restricted because it's basically a federal grant, and therefore has a set ceiling in the amount awarded per student.

Of course you can work more hours than that--it just won't be a work-study job (ie, not federally subsidized).

There's really no benefit to a student taking a minimum wage work-study job because you would be working the same number of hours as in a non-work-study job. The whole point of work-study is to allow the student to earn a maximum amount of pay with minimal time investment so as not to distract from studies. That's why I never heard of any student working for minimum wage on work-study, nor ever saw any job advertised as work-study offering only minimum wage. And yes, I also worked work-study jobs throughout my undergraduate career.

Anyhow, back on topic

[ice_sk8r]

As a skater who works full time, I can tell you that the fatigue does get to the point of exhaustion sooner rather than later. I skate 5 days a week and work 5 days a week. I manage a pro shop in my rink, it's not terribly tough but it's hard work all the same at points. The hardest thing I've found is that my skating days and my days off overlap. I have Mondays and Wednesdays off which means I skate twice as many sessions as I do the rest of the week and I work every weekend. My bosses are great for allowing me time off for competitions etc but I still have responsibilities that sometimes have to come before my training. I get to about 6-8 weeks before I have to force myself to take a full day off to rest because I get to the point where my training is suffering because I'm so tired.

I'm not complaining, I like to keep busy, I just thought I'd share my story on how I have to fund my training

[l'etoile]

As a skater who works full time, I can tell you that the fatigue does get to the point of exhaustion sooner rather than later. I skate 5 days a week and work 5 days a week. I manage a pro shop in my rink, it's not terribly tough but it's hard work all the same at points. The hardest thing I've found is that my skating days and my days off overlap. I have Mondays and Wednesdays off which means I skate twice as many sessions as I do the rest of the week and I work every weekend. My bosses are great for allowing me time off for competitions etc but I still have responsibilities that sometimes have to come before my training. I get to about 6-8 weeks before I have to force myself to take a full day off to rest because I get to the point where my training is suffering because I'm so tired.

I'm not complaining, I like to keep busy, I just thought I'd share my story on how I have to fund my training

I just admire your work-ethic, dedication, and passion for the sport and your life.

I hope there are many bright futures with skaters struggling around the world.

[Skittl1321]

There's really no benefit to a student taking a minimum wage work-study job because you would be working the same number of hours as in a non-work-study job.

I had a minimum wage work study job. The benefit was that it was on campus. It wasn't full time so I would work 4 hours between classes. I would have never been able to get off campus to work and back again (which is why a lot of skaters work at rinks, where they probably make less than they would waiting tables). After spending the first two years of school on campus twiddling my thumbs I realized I would be better off if I did something with that time.

I also had an off campus job with Princeton Review and it paid 6x the amount of the work-study job, but it wasn't possible to get more than maybe 12 hours a week.

[peibeck]

There's really no benefit to a student taking a minimum wage work-study job because you would be working the same number of hours as in a non-work-study job.

The benefit of work study is being able to exclude the money earned from the work study job from the AGI in the federal formula for financial aid. As I always tell our students, if they get a job working at someplace like Target the feds expect/apply a portion of those earning toward the estimated family contribution. For the on-campus FWS jobs, that money does not get counted against them.

The whole point of work-study is to allow the student to earn a maximum amount of pay with minimal time investment so as not to distract from studies.

FWS guidelines limit amount of work hours to provide for employment experience while still allowing time in a student's schedule for class and study time. In the nearly 20 years of experience I have in student financial aid, I have never heard the limit of hours being connected to maximize student income. In my area, almost all schools pay FWS students minimum wage (unless the job is approved for a higher wage rate). With many schools under increasing budget shortfalls, many do not have a choice to be able to pay more. I am sure it is just one of those things which may vary from institution to institution.