The key source of financial independence for most undergraduate students in our country is tutoring other students. With the pandemic last year, undergraduate students' access to tuition increased as the culture of online tuition grew. But down the lane, tutoring others becomes a burden for most of us.

The exhaustion of tuition has its very own timeline.

At the beginning of semesters, it's easy to afford those extra hours and put it into making a few extra bucks. The academic pressure is a bit less and putting in the extra few hours after classes is worth it. But you have to synchronise your schedule with the tuition, and gradually, in doing so, you lose your freedom. You start compromising on other plans and commitments to fit the tuition into your schedule, and they, in turn, start carving out the plans for your daily life.

However, things get worse as the semester progresses.

As lab projects, presentations, class tests, and quizzes start, the compromise just doesn't involve hangouts or creative outlets but rather your academic progressions. Things start getting less flexible as you can barely find time for the tuition amidst the hectic academic schedule. And when your students' exams get closer amid your chaotic schedule, you don't have any other way but to compromise on your own studies and cater to your student's needs.

To balance both worlds, you must compromise on leisure, entertainment, or your creative commitments. Consequently, you're constantly stressed out and exhausted both mentally and physically. The bare minimum takes a lot of effort. Just to survive the semester, you have to compromise on your sleep cycle and it takes a huge toll on your physical well-being. 

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TUITION WANTED: At what cost?

Logically, one or two tuitions shouldn't really hurt. You should be able to afford six to eight hours per week for them. However, things really aren't that simple when you take the Dhaka traffic into consideration. If someone's taking a local bus or a rickshaw to their tuition on a working day, it's at least an hour wasted on the road in the round trip. With twice the time taken, the eight hours per week end up being 16 hours or more.

Moreover, it's not just the hours spent on the job but also the mental exhaustion that comes with it that can affect you. Since you're continuously exercising your brain and your job involves giving lectures and solving problems, it can't get the rest it needs to concentrate on a new topic. This leads to poor efficiency and a lack of attention span. It starts affecting your social life as well since you can't accommodate time for yourself or others.

For most students, tuitions are their only way of survival. Many of them even have their families financially dependent on their tuition, so leaving them isn't really an option, even when it costs them their mental health. For others, it's a matter of financial independence. Once you start earning, you grow out of the habit of depending on your parents for your own expenses. Dropping the tuition would mean having to answer to others for your expenses and losing that independence.

Before committing to tuition, maybe we should try to be a bit more far-sighted and prioritise our work-life balance rather than making heavy compromises that'll impact our physical and mental well-being in the long run.

Remind Ifti to be quieter at hasiburrashidifti@gmail.com