For the past year, I held a full-time job while doing school part-time. Everyone else in Hong Kong was doing it so I thought, I’ll learn to manage. The benefit of this was that it was financially healthy because I could pay in installments and could afford to go to school. The second was that it didn’t interrupt with my career or work. I didn’t have to take time off. And third, it was only two years part-time, as opposed to two years full time back at home.

It sounded logical for me to do this and I was really happy to the decision until I realized what were the disadvantages. The best part of being a student is actually being a student and getting to know people and doing cool things on campus. But when you’re a part-time student, it’s more like a hop-in-hop-out routine.

So here are a few things that I hated as a part-time student:

1. Night classes - Taking the lift is rather convenient when you do night classes because no one is lining up to go to school. Instead, everyone is lining up to leave school and that is when I felt the difference. While everyone is going home, my part 2 to my day just began. If you wanted to ever take part in activities, there is a high chance that would be difficult too. Events happen at night but you will be stuck in class.
2. No weekends - As your weekday is already packed with normal life, work and school, that leaves all your weekend at the library. I can never work on weekdays because I’m already tired from work so in order to make sure I submit all my essays on time, this is compensated on my weekends. Goodbye to normal life.
3. Lack of benefits - As a part-time Masters students, most benefits don’t involve you. Not only is my program self-funded, those scholarships, cheap residence and full time student discounts, none of it applies to me either. Sadly enough, even the majority of student services don’t include me.

There are always advantages and disadvantages to everything. For one, you do get your Masters while balancing a life at full speed and that’s great also. But there is a price to be paid and sacrifices to be made.

I’m glad I’ll be doing things a little different this time around in year 2. Let’s see how it all works out for me.

Everyone has a story.

This is mine.