Money vs Academics

I just could not help but ask my friend for some advice. It was regarding a particular situation. It was concerning whether should I work part time and at the same time study as well. My other friends, most of them are pursuing their final year graduation or their Ph.D's and some Masters, are pursuing jobs and studying as well. My friend, who is currently working full time, told me, it not only depends upon you, but study should be more important. Only after studying should you work.

The culture here in the west is such that you can earn money and at the same time study, with equally good effect. But, this individual is such that he can only focus on one thing at one time. He is quiet weak at Multi-tasking, and he is unable to get a job anywhere. But,he is pursuing his studies quiet well. I guess, if i look at this individual, i could be quiet glad that some people do it others don't. There have been lots of cases where people have suffered in their academics.

I would like to point out that this culture of earning and studying comes with its own catch 22 situation. Some people want to keep on earning, while at the same time unable to cope with their studies. But, the author is perplexed because he is seeing a lot of people bucking the trend, including some of his friends.

But, if someone gets rejected for a job, then mostly there could be a silver lining somewhere else. Maybe, he can devote himself to a lot of other activities. Maybe, he and money earning were just not meant to be. But, it would be tempting to try out this balance. I have to be very careful, because one wrong act of management can lead to disaster in academic life.