The saying is that being a student is a full-time job in itself and this is widely recognized because it is true. Spending hours and hours studying every week is still hours and hours spent on something and therefore students feel tired. Therefore, the last idea on their minds is spending whatever time they have left in their weeks working a yet another job, but here are a few reasons why this should be a priority over extracurricular activities.
1) They can learn the value of hard work while building their personal wealth
During my elementary years, I worked for the local newspaper company in town and boy, was that job tough. Waking up before 5 o'clock in the morning to roll up newspapers and deliver them really shoved me outside my comfort zone, especially with school starting soon afterward. However, little did I realize my discipline and work ethic becoming stronger day after day and how the harshness of the job, especially come winter time, pushed me to appreciate more aspects of my life. During those cold mornings, I remembered the times when I whined because I did not get what I wanted and my parents would remind me "Do you know how hard we have to work to buy you these things? You should be grateful for what you already have!" Such words not only made me acknowledge the rigor of life but elevated my school work to a new level that helped me produce exemplary work requested of my teachers to be used as examples in their classes. Eventually, I would phase out of delivering newspapers and begin mowing lawns/shoveling snow but my appreciation for hard work only grew and so did my savings! Quantifying hard work, not with grades, but with earnings is a different experience in itself and forming the bond between hard work and money earlier in life alongside the importance of saving will do wonders years down the road.
2) You get hands-on experience and potentially a life-long career
There is a story my mother used to tell me and goes something like this...there were two boys: the worst high school student and the valedictorian. The top student went on to study at South Korea's top university while the failing individual dropped out of college. This drop out went to one of the top financial firms in the country and begged one of the managers if he could work for free under him which the manager refused at first. In fact, the drop out had asked over 10 times before he decided to take the former student under his wing at which point he began mentoring the boy. After years of struggle and barely getting enough to eat everyday, the boy worked so hard that the manager offered him a job at the firm which he accepted in a heartbeat. And guess who ended up working at the same firm? It was the former valedictorian from the drop out's high school. So although their paths diverged a long time ago, the drop out ended up gaining real-life experience and the exact same career that his polar opposite, with no experience, received after graduating from the best academic route the country had to offer. Point of the story is not to drop out of college, of course, in hopes to repeat this story especially since there is no guarantee that this will actually happen. Rather, although the point of school is to eventually enter into a professional career, whether that be working for yourself or under someone else, prepared with the skills obtained from school to ensure a successful line of work, there is experience and opportunities that cannot be obtained in the classroom. And if there is another way to receive the job you want besides going the traditional route, is that not better than paying thousands toward an education that is merely supplemental to the training you will have to do anyways after getting the job? Just think about it. Even if this is not the case for you, the experience will look good on a resume (make sure it is relevant, of course).
