I often joke that getting work-study at USC is harder than getting in, which isn’t entirely untrue. I’ve spent hours completing work-study job applications. I started with high hopes when I arrived my freshman year. Before going to college, everyone told me, “Just get a library job, you can do your homework during it.” Seems easy enough when you put it that way.

It’s never too late to find an on-campus job. Trust me, I didn’t hear back from my work-study job until Thanksgiving break of my sophomore year. Over the course of three months, I had applied to dozens of on-campus jobs to no avail. Between midterms and holiday stress, I was discouraged and defeated. I was convinced I wouldn’t find a job at all that year if I hadn’t secured one already. Out of the blue, I landed an interview at the USC Career Center. Two years later, I was promoted to Lead Student Engagement Intern.