Something I've been seriously thinking about lately... As a commuter at BSU, I struggle daily to keep up with my school work on top of my hectic work schedule. I wish I could maintain both (best of both worlds) but I find it seemingly impossible. After working until 2am on Friday and Saturday night,Sunday double, Monday day, Wednesday and Thursday nights, I find it hard to come home after and concentrate on doing my school work.
I get that without a college degree I'll never get a well-paying job in a profession that I am actually interested in, but I can't help but ponder the thought of taking time off school sometimes. The money is SO good that I wish I could just work full time, although the thought of waitressing for the rest of my life should make me dive head first into my books. I think the reason behind this could be due to the fact that a lot of the classes I'm taking feel like a waste of my time. For example, since 5 pm when I got out of work today, (it is now 2:15 am), I have been doing a Constitution requirement for a history class. Apparently it is a Massachusetts state law that it be completed, which is fine, I just feel like it was an utter waste of time in which I could have been doing work that I actually hold interest in, like the news feature for this journalism class.
If we have the right to life, liberty and happiness, then we should not be required to do that assignment ever, seeing as it brought 0 happiness into my life. A little over-dramatic I know, but sometimes the busy work assigned by Professors is so useless. Anyways, I know I am not the only one who struggles to balance work and school. It's just catching up with me this week especially with midterms coming up this Thursday. I also am an insomniac which definitely doesn't make waking up in the morning any easier.
I think what I dislike the most about this school and work is the fact that my social life is non-existent. Every one tells you that you need to live-up your life while your still young, but I can't seem to find any time to. I envy the kids who live at school and actually get to go out on the weekends. I don't think I've had a Friday or Saturday night off in months. The money is addicting though, which is why I usually don't care about working. Any recommendations on how to find a balance between work, school, and a social life??
A state law? Really? Something seems suspect about that....but if you say so.
ReplyDeleteI have a wide range of thoughts on this but I'm not going to pull the "older, wiser" card on you, so I'll keep them narrow. At various points in my life I have adopted a "sleep when you're dead" mantra (I'm actually kind of in one now), but that's not always healthy, productive or sustainable.
I don't always see the rush to go to and finish college: especially now when you're going to graduate into a miserable job market. I think a lot of people feel this pressure to go straight to school after high school and finish in four years or less, without really knowing what they want to do in life, so they coast by and then at 37 they finally figure out they want to teach college journalism and write books for a living.
Not sure what the rules are but can you scale back? Maybe take fewer classes? Or offset them with a summer class? I think you're close enough to finishing that it doesn't make sense to give up now or even take a bunch of time off (I always get worried people will take a break and not come back), but the reality is how much are you getting out of classes if you feel like you're just cramming in? You may like them better if you only had a few to focus on.
Take a semester off and just take one class that you really want to take. That keeps a foot in the game but also let's you recharge (you may even find you start to miss your hectic, current pace).
Or just take my classes next semester, which may or may not be my last in the Comm department. I'm probably going to do away with blogs as while I had good intentions I think it's that busy work you're were venting about. I'm glad I tried it but I think there are better things I can be doing with my classes in the future.
I say work now, play later. The people that are having their fun time now are going to have their work catch up with them, while you stay on top of yours, and by the time they get around to doing all of theirs it will be last minute and they'll be discouraged and not do it at all. If you have all your fun now, you're going to have to work harder later. So I think keep doing what you're doing. If you're a commuter, maybe do what Cope says and take less classes next semester so ease the work load. Don't be concerned on graduating right on time, it seems like more and more people here are on the 5 year plan the more I talk to people. So . . work now, play later. Good luck!
ReplyDeletePick your spots, college is definitely a marathon and not a sprint, go hard when needed, and coast when neccessary, thats how I roll, works just fine, I get what I need out of the classes I enjoy, do the work in the ones I could care less about, and still work overnight and get hammered on days off, sometimes before class, haha kidding!
ReplyDeleteWell, sort of