Originally posted by Erap
As a parent and base on my experience when I was in college, I have to agree with your parents.

Ganyan din ako dati. Nag-trabaho din ako while studying with the objective of helping my parents out sa gastos ko sa aking paga-aral. Ayun, I ended up flunking my studies and got kicked out of school. Not that I'm saying that you'll end up doing what I did but to be on the safe side, mag-aral muna. It's not a question of trust. Believe me when I say na sobra-sobra ang tiwala nila sa yo pero you have to understand na while they can expect and trust you to do the right thing, they have no control on other people you meet with, work with, hang out with, or even say hi with. What worries them more is their good daughter going on a job that will let her meet a lot of 'OTHER' people and be open to a lot of influences BOTH GOOD and BAD. This is a hard reality that I overlooked during my college days. I thought I was ready to exercise my freedom.... flex my wings a little bit.... but with freedom comes responsibility. Ako kasi yung taong hindi marunong humindi pag nagkayayaan or even kapag na-dare lang. Again, I'm not saying na you'll make the same mistakes I did but IMO, mas maganda yata kung dun ka muna sa trabahong hindi kasing demanding not only of your time but of your effort both physically and mentally. Tipong pang part time lang talaga.
i'm sorry, but i have to disagree.

the purpose of going to college is not to get the best grades possible, but to prepare yourself the best for your future career. of course, good grades are a big part of that, but experiences, making contacts, and getting a good school's "brand name" on your resume so you can get the interviews you want are just as important as grades, if not more so.

gretzy's part-time job is direct management experience in her field of study. you can't get a much better opportunity than that. a company will take a cum laude student who's a proven leader and hard worker who can juggle multiple responsibilities any day over a book-smart summa cum laude.

as for influences, i went to UP Diliman too and believe me, she doesn't need to go work at a bar to find trouble or bad influences around her. (gretzy - either your parents trust you or they don't - if they trust you to live alone and away from home on campus, why won't they trust you to handle yourself at work?)

i do agree 100% about your comments that there has to be a balance - the part-time job doesn't do you any good if you flunk out of school or get terrible grades.