Working part time to put yourself through school would be an extremely effective explanation if true. If your grades were bad at the beginning but have improved

Working part time to put yourself through school would be an extremely effective explanation if true. If your grades were bad at the beginning but have improved recently you could point out that you've become more mature and serious in your outlook. Talking up the side projects because school is too boring strikes me as unhelpful because it suggests you'll continue that pattern at work.