Campus Connect Engagement Contest Week 5: Side Hustle On Campus As A Student; By v-brainer

Hello Everyone, Good day to you all. It has been a while I posted here on 'Campus Connect' Community and I want to trust you all are doing great. It's been amazing thus far being a member of this community because it is a community that gives everyone a chance to talk about their day-to-day activities and challenges and also give room for people like me to write about some of the achievement we have made so far in life
Today, I am going to be writing about some of the side hustle I do in school which has help me alot and has kept me moving both Financially, Socially and Educationally

WHAT IS YOUR SIDE HUSTLE?

As a student from a family that do not have a wealthy background, there are so many things I do so as to make sure that I'm able to pay my bills, put food on my table and provide most of the things I need especially in school. But not withstanding there are two major things i.e side hustle I do in school as a student. Though it is not very easy having to do them all as a student but since they all bring in extra income I have no other choice than to engage in them all. Below are the two main side hustle I do as a student

✅ Event planning and Decoration

Event planning and decoration has been something I learnt how to do since I was a kid, it is more like a family business so it was pretty much easy to learn, though it was so annoing then I was younger because I had to be forced to go along with my older siblings to different work. I learnt different styles of decorations both indoor and outdoor from my elder brother who is now an expert in the business "I guess I'm close to being an expert too😊"
All those years of learning decoration and event planning by force is really making sense to me now because the skill acquired so far is helping me make some cool cash in school at the moment.

Some of my work

Presently; Most people in my school knows about my skill so they always book for my service when ever there is an upcoming event such as department orientations, fellowship programs, dinner nights, matriculation, birthday parties and even wedding ceremonies.

✅ Computer Repairs

Aside from Event Planning and Decoration I also engage in other side hustle, not relying solely on one. Lately before the ASUU strike, I decided to learn a new skill in school since 'Event Planning and Decorations' services do not come all the time and I needed an extra source to boost my income. I actually paid to learn both computer hardware and software engineering/repairs and thank God it turned out to be like an "earn while you learn" kind of work.
Computer Repairs in a way has also fetched me reasonable amount of money as a student. Then in school when I was still a Novice computer Engineer, I would collect people's system that are faulty, take them to my boss and then remove my own cut from payment made by client

Since I started computer repairs, marketing of computers and laptops as been so much easier for me too because people now have trust in me, they believes i know more about computer system so most people would prefer to meet me before going to buy their computers and so I make money from there also.

HOW DO YOU MERGE BOTH YOUR SIDE HUSTLE AND EDUCATION ON CAMPUS?

Having to merge both my education and side hustle has never been easy for me because aside from the fact that they both consume virtually my whole time, it is very stressful combining both on campus. Although it is very important to make money but I always put my education first and I don't let my Hustle limit the rate of effort and mindset I have towards my education.

Most of my lecture time falls between 8am-2pm so I normally go to my workplace and do any work I have at hand i.e (computer repairs) from that time when I'm less busy. Decoration work falls at anytime, but I only do it when it's more convenient for me for example; I'll rather render my decoration service very early in the morning or late at night so that it won't clash with my lecture time. Saturdays and Sundays are also free for me so i use those days to do any work at hand too, whether decoration or computer repairs.

HOW MANY HOURS DO YOU WORK A WEEK ON YOUR SIDE HUSTLE

Each day has it's own goal so it will be very difficult to be so specific about how long I do my side hustle. The number of hours I spend doing my side hustle depends on the day as each day has it's own goal.

Like I said earlier I do most of my decorations service as early as possible in the morning and late at night when I'm less busy, but this particular work in question do not come all the time, sometimes 'not even ones in a week'. For each work I get for decoration, I spend at least 3-4 hours doing it though still depending on the size of venue, type of Decorations and the the intensity of the work.

On the other hand, I normally go to my place of work (computer engineering) by 4pm each day when I must have been done with my lectures for the day then I go by 12pm on Saturdays and Sundays and close by 7pm everyday.
So approximately I spend 3 hours each week day and 7 hours during weekends and that should be around 30hours per week for computer engineering services.

Conclusion
My side hustle has helped me alot in sustaining my self both on campus and outside campus. Going to school is very important but having something else that can bring you extra income is a very good idea because for me i can't just relax and depend on my older siblings for money - they can't do everything for me - so I had to start doing my own thing and pay my own bills.

My country Nigeria today has no guarantee for employing graduates or work safety, the pay for employed workers is even very low compared to how expensive things are now so it is very advisable for people to get something else doing so as to survive the kind of economic system present in Nigeria at the moment.

Thank you all for reading through. I hope this post inspires and motivate someone out there to start up something and make extra income. And I'll like to implore more Steemian users to engage in inspiration post like this one. I also want to use this opportunity to invite my Steemian friends @samuelebuka @gidsbrown and @solexybaba to participate in this contest.
Thank you all once again, see you at the top