As Northwestern’s tuition shoots skyward and Evanston doesn’t get any cheaper, many students have work-study jobs to keep themselves afloat. But not everyone is cut out to swipe WildCARDs at SPAC – so we surveyed the weirdest of campus employment opportunities. Here are our favorite ways creative co-eds are making it rain.
PENS FOR PENNIES
If you’re mooching a pen from that kid in discussion, and it’s not a standard Bic or mechanical pencil but a sleek utensil with snazzy illustrations, you probably just met McCormick junior Andrew Wu. He makes $1,000 per month selling the Asian stationary pens – which he says are only available in stores in Chinatown – on the Internet. Wu has sold more than 15,000 imported pens through his eBay store since early 2007.
Wu is just the middleman; a Taiwan-based supplier ships directly to customers. “I speak English, I know who to target, and I’m already established online,” Wu says, explaining why he is an asset to Taiwanese pen companies not well-versed in American markets. “I have some friends that think it’s kind of weird,” Wu says. “But then they realize that there are a lot of people buying them.”
TITS FOR TIPS
McFadden’s, your Wednesday night flip-cup headquarters, is used to NU partiers storming – and even dancing on top of – their two bars. Now they want you working behind the counter.
The home of the White Trash Bash is on the prowl for Evanston students to serve as guest bartenders. “You don’t have to know anything at all,” says Kristi Paris, McFadden’s director of marketing and events. “You come in and train for barely an hour. It could not possibly be easier.” McFadden’s guest bartending gig began two years ago, and nightly tips range from $100 to $500, Paris says.
Students have used their guest shifts for fundraising purposes, and others as a way to show off. “Some people think it would be fun to have a bunch of their friends over and say, ‘Hey, look at me bartend,'” Paris says. Aside from making money, it’s definitely a good way to get attention, and you don’t even have to dance on a pole (body shots optional).
DORM ROOM DAY TRADING
He hasn’t even completed his degree in economics yet, but Mitchell Lee turns a 1,000 percent profit margin in currency trading every year. Thanks to fluctuations in international exchange rates, he expects to pay off his entire college tuition by the time he graduates.
Although Lee warns of the market’s inherent risks, currency trading is a big part of his future plans. He spends anywhere from 15 minutes to five hours researching the money market every day and takes advantage of minor changes in currency strengths. “The best way to make money isn’t to work 80-hour weeks,” says Lee, who started trading when he was 12 years old. “Warren Buffett didn’t get to be a billionaire by working a job that paid a lot of money. He took his money and invested it well.”
WILDCARD NOT ACCEPTED
When you need a snack and CVS is closed (or you’re just too lazy to go), there’s finally an alternative to overpriced on-campus cookies. Operating from his third-floor Hinman single, Weinberg sophomore Nathan Kosky offers the same nonperishable foods as the dorm’s convenience store, from Gatorade to Cheez-Its, for less. He sells about $40 worth of snacks each week.
Kosky set up shop at the beginning of winter quarter and broke even about three weeks ago. Most of his goods are priced 25 to 50 cents lower than they are in C-Stores. “I think the on-campus prices are outrageously expensive,” Kosky says. “My goal is to have people save a little bit of money, and at the same time come away with a little bit, too.”
Cash-strapped students with a case of the munchies seem to appreciate: The budding entrepreneur has served over 30 students, including 20 regulars, at his “store,” affectionately known as Kosky’s Convenience.
CUBING FOR CASH
Will Smith is good, but not that good. Before filming a scene in “The Pursuit of Happyness,” the star actor received a crash course from Toby Mao, a Weinberg freshman and one of the world’s top competitive Rubik’s Cube solvers.
Mao taught Smith how to decipher the notorious Hungarian puzzle to the sweet tune of $200 a day. “It took him about four hours to learn,” says Mao, who set the speedcubing world record in 2006 with 10.48 seconds. “By the time he was done, he could do it in about two minutes by himself.” The Rubik’s wunderkind is now working on reclaiming his title which was taken from him in 2007.