Charlzie Jones is a freshman in her second semester at NWACC. She balances a full class schedule with shifts at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. — and she does it with a level of discipline that didn’t come overnight.
After graduating a semester early from Bentonville schools, Jones had a semester off that she describes as a “reset.” She didn’t start working again until she started school in August. When she did, her new job at Cracker Barrel was her first job outside of fast food. “I like working,” she said. “It gives me something to do, and I like getting money.”
Jones is still trying to figure out what she wants to study. Originally, she planned to study agriculture. She wanted to learn how to live off her own land one day, and homestead. However, the course focused more on agricultural careers than personal sustainability. “I just want to go farm and not have to work again,” she said. Now, she is exploring art in hopes to gain some skills for tattooing. “It’s making me a better drawer,” she explained.
Balancing school and work hasn’t been easy. Jones explained that last semester, more of her classes were online, which gave her flexibility to work more hours. This semester all of her classes are in-person so she had to cut back her work schedule. Her typical weekday starts with classes from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., some days until 4. On workdays, she goes home, showers, and heads straight to her shift, often not finishing until 8 p.m. Somehow, she still tries to make it to the gym.
However, on overwhelming nights, she skips the gym and goes straight home to finish homework. She journals to manage stress and rereads her entries to decide what she can improve. While reflecting, Jones acknowledges her busy schedule requires her to sacrifice some time with friends. “I feel like I’m missing out,” she said, but added that in those moments she reminds herself of her priorities.
For Jones, organization is key. She keeps everything she needs — gym clothes, work uniform, school materials — in her car. She sets “a million alarms” and sometimes leaves an hour early to beat traffic. When everything feels urgent she ranks everything by importance and then works through them one by one. Even though she does her best to stay on top of things there have been setbacks. Instead of giving up, she adjusted. She talked to her manager and requested more days off to focus on school.
Her manager, Tina Rogers, describes her as always on time and reliable. “She does everything she’s expected to do, and we can always trust her to work hard,” Rogers said. She also added that Charlzie never lets school interfere with her work or affect her performance.
Coworker and friend Rose Gore agrees. She says school and work actually strengthen Jones’ abilities in both areas. “Going to school helps her develop the skills she needs for work, and going to work helps her develop the skills she needs for school,” Gore said.
Each shift, each class and every late night has become a routine that is shaping Jones into someone better. It isn’t easy, but with every adjustment she makes, she is proving she can handle more than she once thought.
