> Why pay $10's of K per year to go to college and then spend 20 hours/week waiting tables instead of studying? There's an assumption here that if you're worki

> Why pay $10's of K per year to go to college and then spend 20 hours/week waiting tables instead of studying? There's an assumption here that if you're working, it'll cut from your studying time and make you worse off. In reality, the more you fill up your schedule, the better off you'll be. Adding a job, sport, and club will make you better at studying and you'll have as good of a social life because your rare free time will be so precious that you'll want to plan and spend it well instead of sitting around boozing or getting high. My Mom came from nothing - like, nine kids, no money at all - and waited tables through college, kept a solid B average, I was born before her senior year (my Dad was in grad school), and they both finished up and got into good jobs. I dropped out of high school, got an almost full scholarship to university anyways, and pretty much screwed around with my free time - the only time I was ever locked in academically was when I was also training as a fencer for 20+ hours per week. Before I was a fencer, I screwed around. After I broke my hand, I screwed around some more and dropped out to start a company. A few years later I studied business with my own money, paying cash each semester while working at the same time. Then I studied a lot more seriously. Working for money is cool. Not working and pretending you're going to study in that time is delusional - the habits built from working and keeping a job is probably better than extra study time anyways at building character and making you successful.