FOR working students who need to juggle work and their studies, taking vitamins and the absence of illnesses are not enough to ensure they are healthy.
Dr. Rosnato R. Diaz, head of the out-patient department of the Cebu City Medical Center, said it is also risky for them to think it is okay to abuse their bodies if they take vitamins or food supplements.
Although working students claimed that they get sleepy and tired, most of them believe their health is fine because they don’t have any illness.
But Diaz said sleepiness is a sign that the body needs to rest. “Eat the right food with the right amount, in the right way, and on the right time,” Diaz also said.
But students have several reasons for working and studying at the same time.
University of San Jose-Recoletos student assistant Elvert M. Benero Jr. enjoys a full scholarship and a P400 monthly allowance.
Fastfood service crew members Linc Solante of the University of Cebu (UC) earns P127 per day while Leo Victor Amores of the University of San Carlos makes P200.25 per day for working four and six hours, respectively.
Tutors Aljun Pilonggo from the University of the Visayas and Ian Joplin Virrey of the University of the Philippines (UP) are earning P2,000 monthly and P250 per session, respectively.
Support
As a barista, UP student Gayle Tallo earns P47 per hour for at least 20 hours of work per week. Another UP student Jordane Rosil, simultaneously studies and supports her family with her P10,000 salary as a call center agent.
Christian Tacio, a UC student working at a Korean school for P250 a day, said that he is working to support his studies.
The other students confessed that they really find it difficult to manage their schedules and said they have to double their efforts to do well in both work and school. One admitted asking his classmates to do his projects. (Jessa Angelie S. Lausa, UPVCC Mass Comm)
