Waterloo AIF - Circumstances with an adverse effect on my academic performance

Explaining Extenuating Circumstances

Question: Are there any issues or circumstances (e.g., medical, personal, or financial) that may have affected your academic record? If YES, please describe the circumstance in detail below. We are particularly interested in issues or circumstances that directly affected your academic performance and that led to a rise or drop in grades or to changes in your academic or personal goals.

For this question can I talk about how having a part-time job led to a decrease in my grades? or will that make me look bad?

This is the response I came up with:
One circumstance that has led to a drop in my grades is due to my financial status. To make sure I have sufficient funding to attend University I decided to get a part-time job. Even though I have been working part-time, I've been able to manage my time effectively for the most part however, there still are times when my work schedule conflicts with school. Often I have to work long shifts on weekdays which tend to take time away from my studies as I am required to be work during the night shift. This tends to have a negative impact on my grades which can be seen based on my physics mark. I had physics first period so working late limited my ability to make alternate times to focus on physics. I also had a spare first semester after physics which gave me time to review material for my other two courses. I believe working part-time will have a larger impact second semester as I have four courses without a spare. (924)

Well, the response just shows that you have poor time management skills. In relation to that, your want to support your education from your personal finances will counted as plus points. The low scores in physics will probably get some moderate attention. The response you gave cannot be considered positive nor negative. Let's call it a gray area. It is representative of both your strength and weakness as a student. So it will be up to reviewer to decide if all of the other paperwork you submitted will be able to outweigh the presentation you made in this essay. It's really up to the admissions committee at this point.

Since you were asked to describe the situation in detail, why don't you do just that and fully explain how you were able to avoid a failing mark, even as a working student? That way your determination to receive an education will outshine all possible negative effects of your response. Do that. Explain yourself further. It can only be of help to your application.

@Holt
Thanks for the reply, I got a 93 in physics which isn't that low but I still fell like it is as I managed to get a 100 and 98 in my other 2 classes. Do think me mentioning my job will justify the mark and help my application. I feel like having a job is going to have a bigger impact on me second semester, but I don't know how to explain that. Any ideas?