Over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic hit students hard in a variety of ways. It’s hit us on a social level by taking away our connections with our teachers and classmates. It’s hit us on an emotional level because of our limited abilities to seek help when we need it. And it’s certainly has hit us on a financial level by taking away jobs that students need to be able to pay their tuition and living expenses.
Camosun College alumni Ellen Young—who graduated from the Business Administration program with a major in Marketing in 2018—remembers what it was like being a student and trying to make ends meet; when she was at the college, she had several different side jobs to help her make some extra money.
“During my time at Camosun as a full-time student I really needed different creative ways to make a little bit of spending cash, because as you know, it can be difficult as a student, it’s super expensive, especially living in Victoria, so I managed to find some pretty sustainable ways to make money, and support myself as much as I can, and also work my own hours and do what I like,” she says.
Young says that her main money-maker while she was at Camosun was tutoring.
“The classes that I tutored a lot in were Excel, web design, statistics, and pretty much when it comes to the Marketing class, we were writing reports and essays, and basically, I would meet with students who were struggling in classes and help them understand the material. I also helped them figure out how to format their essays and reports. That was very sustainable.”
She calls tutoring—which she started simply by making posters saying if anyone needs help with Excel to contact her, and it spread through word of mouth and then through instructors—a “win-win-win situation for everyone.”
“It helped me make a little bit of money on the side, it helped the students in their academic goals, and it actually helped the instructors, because they don’t have the time to help every single student that needs help, because they teach tons of students, so it helps them alleviate some stress as well,” says Young.
Another side job that Young did while she was a student at the college was life modelling. She says being reliable really helps with this, as word got around that people could count on her.
“At Camosun, UVic and all of the different art colleges and communities around the city, they’re always looking for people, models to draw, so that was something I did as well, was I offered myself as a model. Not going to lie, full disclosure, a lot of it was nude modelling,” she says. “But that was actually a lot of fun and you don’t need to be like a perfect Brad Pitt body or anything. They look for diversity and different types of bodies. Really, all you need to do is be comfortable in your own skin and be able to hold a pose and be comfortable in your own head, because it does get kind of boring when you’re just sitting there and people would be drawing you for hours at a time.”
Young was also involved with the Camosun College Student Society, where she now works as digital experience specialist.
“During my entire degree I was an elected director of the CCSS,” says Young. “Depending on your position you can get paid by simply attending meetings, and then there’s $30 right there, or you can actually have hours that you can fulfill every week and get paid for that. There are different job opportunities within the CCSS. Some can be super casual, like one-time gigs. For example, one year for graduation, I was driving the golf carts around, driving people to and from the venue. At the CCSS, you get the advantage of being one of the first people to know what’s going on at the college, what’s going on in terms of events, and then finding creative ways to insert yourself and help out and potentially get a couple of hours that are payable. So that was fun and a great way to make connections and friends.”
Young also cites babysitting as one of the most important side hustles that got her through college.
“Now that I’m a parent I realize how important it is to have good, reliable babysitters,” she says. “There’s actually quite a few Facebook groups in Victoria that are dedicated to pairing up parents with nannies, babysitters, or child care workers [Childcare in Greater Victoria BC Canada and Childcare in Greater Victoria, Canada 2.0]; you just make a post and talk about yourself and people would contact you and hire you.”
Young’s side hustles didn’t stop there. She did contract work for a contact she made through her co-op at Camosun and she helped companies with Excel work, for example. She also encourages students to look into awards and bursaries, which she always applied for (“What people don’t realize is that you don’t necessarily need to be at the top of your class to apply for these awards,” she says, noting how few students actually apply for some of these. She also worked at a Camosun craft fair, selling baked goods (“That was pretty good way to make money, as well,” she says) and after she graduated, she made and sold COVID-19 face masks.
Young says that the great thing about working these side hustles is that you work your own hours and availability.
“During school, I pretty much lived in my Google Calendar. I would say I’m very organized. Most days I have each hour of my day planned out,” she says. “Side hustling might not be for everyone, if you’re not organized, but if you are the type who can juggle a million things, it can work out really, really well for you.”