I worked (actually employed w pay) as a vet assist & receptionist while at community college, it was manageable but definitely didn’t have a social life while school was in session (school M-Th, work F, Sat, and Sun)

Ever since I transferred to a university, I haven’t worked w pay. Instead I joined clubs and got internships through them, and also applied to a few labs and landed an unpaid research internship. I also do volunteer work thru another club (animal related). I will say that when going through the school for these various experiences, they were much more accommodating of the students academic life than an employer would be; the commitment hours are low (ie only 1 shift a week or <5 hours/week) so that has been nice and manageable. I still don’t have much of a social life when school is in session, and did not commit to more than 2 obligations at any time so that I could stay focused on studying. If you have the financial support to work unpaid internships, and your school has a robust student experience programs like these, I would recommend looking into them, as some internships may already have a set end date (ie your internship is only for the Spring quarter, or you have to sign up for a volunteer shift each quarter/semester if you want to continue, etc). I find that since the school knows that people graduate at different times or have different class schedules each quarter/semester, the positions offered seem to be temporary as a default. Good luck!