School, sleep, or fun? How about all three!

All of the college acceptance letters are coming in the mail and your excitement is growing. You are starting to look online at all that these schools offer; residence halls, clubs, organizations, Greek life, sports team, and of course the academic classes. There is so much you want to do, how do you do it all? You may not think it is all possible without giving up sleep but it is. I'm proof.

 

I am honest when I say I carry a full load in life. I am a dance major who takes their dance classes every day, has a full load of academic classes, three jobs on campus, involved in multiple clubs, and I am part of Greek Life and have an Executive Board position in that organization. You are probably wondering how I handle all of this and still get at least eight hours of sleep a night, time management and planning. This is the key to a successful academic and social life in college. I manage my time using a planner, here at Adelphi you can get a free planner at our Panthertainment booth. I give each activity a colored pen and make my planner color coded. For example, class is purple, clubs are blue, work is green, etc. Then I copy this colorful planner onto my colorful calendar above my desk in my residence hall so I can always view my schedule no matter what I am doing. 

In college, you can get all caught up in everything you are doing that you forget about yourself. Another important thing to plan for is what I call "me time". I make sure I have "me time" once a day and it is something I want to do, not something that was assigned or needs to be done. "Me time" is essential to keeping your stress level down and is fun. "Me time" could range from watching a movie or TV show, going to the mall or out to eat, or my personal favorite, taking a nap. 

College is what you make of it but don't spread your self too thin. Maybe you don't need to join six clubs at one time. Maybe you join two or three so you have time to do schoolwork and then next semester change them up or add them in slowly. Your academic schedule changes each semester so your activities should as well. College is meant to be fun and inspiring, manage your time well and there is no doubt in my mind that college will be an amazing experience, hey, I'm doing it!