Off campus, students find part-time employment

Though many University students rarely venture outside Princeton's "orange bubble," some have secured off-campus jobs.

Jennie Dean '06, the first University student to work at Halo Pub, took an off-campus job to expand her college experience.

"While I love Princeton, I was getting bored with school . . . I wanted to interact with different people since everyone at Princeton is pretty similar," she said.

At Halo, Dean scooped ice cream, made coffee drinks and helped close the store. But because of a time conflict, she couldn't return to work this year.

However, she was very positive about her job experience. "The people I worked with were entertaining and completely different from the people I interacted with on campus. The free ice cream and extra spending money didn't hurt either," she said.

Bob Nichols '07 also explored off-campus job opportunities, eventually joing the team behind the counter at Nassau Street's CVS.

"I figured that I'd be able to get some money and I could just transfer back [to a CVS] at home. I didn't realize at the time that campus jobs pay better," he said.

For about 10 hours a week, Nichols works in the pharmacy of CVS, entering prescription orders, counting pills, talking about insurance issues or operating the register.

"Occasionally I'll screw something up and the pharmacist will say, 'Oh, he's from the University,' and I'll say, 'Don't judge everyone by what I do,'" he said. "They just give me a friendly hard time, but nothing too serious."

Other students, like Rachel Gottron '05, pursue other opportunities to earn money; she currently babysits for several local families.

She began looking for employment off campus because campus jobs limit students to 40-hour work weeks. Gottron, who needed to do thesis research — which counts as a campus job — this summer, had to find an alternative place of employment.

Gottron also holds positions with University dining services and in Frist Campus Center as a tutor.