Working on campus plus balancing an academic and social life might sound like a lot of responsibility. However, junior Michael Lopez is making all the moves he can to build up his resume and make the most of his college experience. During his time here at Kean, Lopez has managed to balance his classes while working on campus and still maintaining his level of involvement.
Lopez is a criminal justice major with a minor in public administration and currently works for the Miron Student Center (MSC). He aspires to become a criminal lawyer for his future career goals. Lopez is also the vice chancellor of his fraternity, Nu Sigma Phi, is involved in other organizations such as Chance At Performing (CAP-G), The National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) and also the Leadership Institute. He not only is maintaining his level of involvement throughout his college career at Kean but also is a commuter, further proving that you do not have to live on campus to make a difference and be an active member of the Kean community.
"Although it doesn't seem too hard, balancing school work and working every day is very challenging. How I balance this struggle is by making sure my time management is good. Ways that I balance my time is by prioritizing what needs to be done first and giving myself enough time to do my assignments," said Lopez.
Lopez is on campus five days a week so a typical day in the life for him would be going to classes from 9:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and then venturing on to the Miron Student Center to begin his shift until late in the afternoon. Lopez would then leave his job to go to the rest of his classes for the day until 7:15 p.m. After he is done with both his academics and work obligations, Lopez is still around on campus either attending meetings for his organizations or to just simply hang out with friends until it is time to go home.
Lopez looks back at his time at Kean to see how far he has come. From being an incoming freshman to now being a junior, Lopez continues to balance life and work. Lopez is on a mission for excellence and he does not plan on stopping just yet.
"When you get involved you really get to know your campus and the students that attend here too. The connections you build after joining a club, Greek Life or even working at Kean are truly priceless. Once I got involved here at Kean, it really did change my whole perspective of college and made my past three years an amazing experience," said Lopez.
Maintaining time management skills is a major key to success in and beyond college according to Lopez. He wants Kean students who aspire to accomplish their goals and find a way to balance out their own busy schedules to know just one thing:
"If you spend too much time thinking about doing something, you'll never get it done. Start now and you'll thank yourself in the future," said Lopez.
Lopez wants to continue to inspire others through his actions and truly make a difference in both the Kean community and beyond.
