Paraprofessional: The Perfect Job for a College Student

          When a college student is going to school full-time, it is hard to find a job that pays well, that does not require you to work too many hours, and still gives you time for homework and a social life. That is why I believe that one of the best jobs that a college student can have, especially if the student is majoring in education, is one that I currently have which is a paraprofessional for the Washington County School District. A paraprofessional is someone that assists the special needs children in their classes with their homework and makes sure they stay on task, which proves to be relatively easy while receiving great satisfaction from helping these children.

            This job fits perfectly around a student’s school schedule because you can either work in the morning or in the afternoon, which leaves the student freedom to choose to go to school in the morning or afternoon, whichever is his off time. Also the hours are great because you only have to work four hours a day, five days a week and the latest you will have to work is three o’clock in the afternoon, leaving the rest of the day for homework and free time. The pay is very decent too with other benefits that come from working at the school district such as discounts off your cell phone bill and other stores and just seeing these children succeed and progress in their classrooms. Also, paraprofessionals at the school district are in demand, so getting a job is not entirely difficult to get.

            While there are many benefits to working with the school district, there are some bad things as well that need to be changed. For example, employees only get paid at the very end of the month, which can cause financial problems if money runs out during the month because the employee will have to possibly wait weeks for a paycheck. I, for example, started working around the twentieth of August and in order to get the job I had to pay around two hundred dollars for tests in order to get the job and I will not receive a paycheck until the end of September even though I have bills to pay now and am out those two hundred dollars for the tests. One other thing that can make this job hard is sometimes, because they are special, the children can become uncooperative at times and can throw temper tantrums when they do not get what they want. Things that could make this job better may be having two paychecks a month to make it easier on employees (especially the new ones) and the schools should have a room to take the kids that may be throwing temper tantrums to have them cool off in and having some kind of rewards program for the kids when they do their work, for example, a piece of candy for every homework assignment completed.

            All in all, the positives of the benefits, schedule, pay, and general satisfaction of helping disabled children outweigh the negatives for a college student that come from working at the school district and are well worth the sacrifices that have to be made in order to get the job.