This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Eeman Farooqui, a 24-year-old clinical coordinator based in Buffalo. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I was a pre-med student specializing in neuroscience and psychology at university, planning to pursue a research career.
My path changed abruptly last year when my grandmother, whom I was very close to, died from a stroke. She had traveled from Pakistan to visit me in the US and come to my wedding.
I stayed with her in the hospital. I thought that if I’d been a doctor, I could’ve known better or done something to help — even if it may not have changed the outcome.
I realized that I don’t want to do research; I actually want to get into patient care. It kick-started my journey to save up for medical school.
Grinding out a 12-hour day job
My day job is as a clinical coordinator in Buffalo, where I talk to patients, take their vitals, and coordinate communication between doctors and patients.
I work four days a week, for around 10 hours a day. With overtime, it often ends up being a 12-hour shift. Starting at 6 a.m. daily means I wake up at 5 a.m. and drive to work after a short gym session.
Usually, with overtime, I earn about $4,500 to $5,000 monthly.
This alone is not enough for medical school. I need funds for tuition fees and relocation if I attend medical school outside Buffalo. I’ve applied for schools in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
That’s why I have four side hustles to boost my income.
Side hustling all day, every day
The one that takes up the most time is babysitting, even though it’s the easiest. I don’t have a set schedule, but it’s at least three days a week for up to three hours each day, including weekends. I get about $28 an hour for babysitting.
I babysit three kids: two sisters who are five and seven, and one kid who is eight. The two sisters are both on the autism spectrum.
The girls are independent, but they need adult supervision. Mostly, it’s an easy job, but sometimes the girls are loud and physically aggressive. This can get pretty tiring, especially when I’m coming straight from work.
Apart from babysitting, I tutor master’s students at my alma mater, the University of Buffalo, in cell biology, biochemistry, and genetics. This takes up 10 hours of my week, and I earn about $22 an hour.
I also do per diem medical assisting, which is similar to my day job but allows me flexibility to choose my shifts. I often do this on Mondays when I have a day off from work, earning $25 an hour.
My favorite side hustle, by far, is doing DoorDash with my husband. We love it because it gives us quality time together. With all my side hustling and his work as airport staff, starting at 3:30 a.m., we joke that we only see each other when we’re eating dinner.
When we deliver food, we drive around the city playing songs in our car. That’s my downtime, because he usually drives. We do this together for about four hours on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, earning an average of $35 an hour.
If this wasn’t enough, my week has gotten busier recently. I’ve started prerequisite classes for medical school, which are held twice a week after my day job.
Getting five hours of sleep daily
The most challenging part of this lifestyle is managing the burnout.
At the end of the week, I don’t want to do anything, and then Monday comes, and I have to start all over again.
I do not get to see my parents often, even though we live five minutes away. I also don’t remember the last time I hung out with my friends because our schedules never line up.
I try my best not to stay up late, aiming to wake up early and get things done. That doesn’t always work, and I get roughly five hours of sleep a night, which I know isn’t healthy. I feel fatigued all the time, but I can’t complain because I signed up for it myself.
The bright side to all this has been that I’ve become a lot more disciplined. I wake up earlier than I ever did in college. I almost never doomscroll on social media; probably the only time I do is for 30 minutes after DoorDash on Friday, after which I’m so tired I usually go straight to sleep.
For a long time, I romanticized my busy life, but I now know it is not sustainable. I know I won’t be able to manage this lifestyle while in medical school, where I plan to specialize in women’s health.
The only motivation to do this is to save for medical school. My dream of being a doctor keeps me going.
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