Jennifer Strade said she always tries to put school first in her life.

But even the Sacramento State junior admits that can be difficult as she juggles both education and work full-time. The branch manager of a small financial institution, Strade said she works more than 40 hours a week, and is enrolled in 15 units this semester.

&Homework is a late night, early morning activity,& the 22-year-old said. &Then, I get three or four hours of sleep and I start over again. Sunday is my day off, and I spend half of it sleeping and then the other half doing homework.&

Even with the sleep deprivation, Strade said she will always do both activities. Determined to finish school and receive her degree, she said she has missed multiple manager meetings and has had to close her store early to make it to her night classes on time.

&School is always first,& she said. &If I put work first, I&ll just be in school longer. By putting school first, I will be able to further my career in the end, because as a college graduate, you are able to partake in many opportunities and job advances than you would if you did not have a degree.&

Many students on campus are employed in addition to going to school full-time. Some students, such as Strade, work full-time positions, while others work part-time.

Alex Loret de Mola is a computer science major employed part-time by I Scan Services, a small computer company. On average, he works 20 hours a week and is enrolled in 14 units.

In order to help himself balance both activities, Loret de Mola said he tries to dedicate certain days to work and other days to school, so he has a day for both. But he said it does become difficult when work and school fall on the same day, and he admits there has been times when he has put work in front of school.

&When you are working in the computer field, you really get into it,& the 23-year-old senior said. &You realize that in the classroom, it&s just theory and when you&re working, its practice. It gives you more of an incentive to do the work instead of the school.&

Junior Erika Cesario is employed part-time for Bank of America. She works an average of 20 hours a week and is enrolled in 12 units. The pre-med major said that at first, it was difficult to juggle both work and school. Now, she added, it is more of a routine.

&I try to do all my homework at least a day in advance,& she said. &When finals come along, I don&t take any time off and I just stay up later. Usually, Saturday&s and Sunday&s are homework time.&

Cesario said she knows her grades would be better if she didn&t work as much as she did. But at the same, she added, she knows that if she did not work, she would not do as well in her classes. In addition, with her job, Cesario said she is able to financially support herself, and for her, that is very important.

&My parents are willing to support me, but I felt the need to contribute to my expenses,& she said. &I felt like I needed to gain some responsibility because I didn&t have any before.&