Author: Volleyball

In the beginning of my new college life, I was not stressed and was excited to start a new chapter in my life. I was excited to live on my own and get the feeling of what it is like in the “real world”. After my first two weeks of classes, time management was not a problem. I was able to wake up on time to get to my classes, I was able to get the motivation to go to my classes, I was able to do my own laundry, and I was able to clean my dorm room without being told to do so. This was a big life change for me, but I was able to do it without any trouble. Now as the weeks have gone by, I am definitely noticing a change in my motivation to do these tasks that were so simple before. I have been stressed over my classes and homework. Along with the classes and homework, I now have late-night volleyball practices for the club team that I am on. I also have meetings for other clubs that I am in as well.

Not only am I starting to stress over school and clubs, but I too have been stressing over finding free time. I noticed that I have been in trouble finding free time to eat meals, spend time with friends, and do dorm room chores. This was never a problem for me before college and finding time to do these kinds of necessities is very important for me. Although school work comes first, I do think that having time to be social, eat, and do chores is very important too. The way I have been finding time to do these tasks is by overlapping and timing my schedule. For example, instead of eating dinner and then hanging out with friends, I invite my friends to get dinner with me and talk during that. I also make sure that I leave after about an hour. As another example, instead of doing chores one by one, I put my laundry in the machines and then I race myself to clean my dorm room before the timer goes off for my laundry to be done. This has been helping me but still gives me plenty of stress. That is why I am going to work on creating a schedule where I can work through my stress and become more successful and comfortable in college.

When incoming freshmen start college, they worry about too much. They worry about not being able to see family, they worry about not having money, they worry about future classes and homework, and they worry about making new friends. I was one of these many freshmen who worry too much before anything even happens. Worrying is totally pointless. College is actually nothing like high school but not in a bad or stressful way at all. Some may think that it sucks to not see your family if you live on campus. Although you aren’t with your family, it makes seeing them even more special than it ever was before. The longer you are apart from them, the bigger and more important the reunion is. With making friends, it’s easier than you may think. Most people want to make new friends so you will be introduced to and talked to by so many people that actually want to be your friend since they are in the same situation as you. And finally, if I’m being honest, classes in college are just as easy as classes in high school. Some classes are easy and some classes are hard. The only two differences is that some college courses are online and you don’t get reminded by your professors when homework is due.

Courses in college are set up just like high school classes. You sit in a classroom and listen as your professor speaks and take notes when you need to. Some classes are lectures in a big classroom that almost looks more like a theater than a regular classroom. Lectures are the easiest classes to take. All you need to do is listen and take notes. Sometimes the professor will ask for an answer but you typically don’t get “cold called” during these courses. Another type of class that some college students have to take, depending on their major, is a science lecture and lab course. This type of course is just like a normal lecture but, some days you will have a lab. Labs can last up to five hours long which is a very long time to be in a class for. That is the only type of course that I would never recommend if you don’t have to take it. Overall, college is a great experience and the classes are not as hard as they may seem to most people.

      Looking back on my freshman year of high school, I was a more shy student. I didn’t ever participate in extracurricular activities besides volleyball and did slack in my school work since I had a hard time managing my time and stress. Moving into college was always a big fear of mine. I never thought I would be able to keep on task with all my classes and attempt to do clubs and extra activities. To my surprise, I am now proud of myself since I am on top of all of my classes and seem to be doing well in them too. I am able to follow along in class, I am able to comfortably speak to my professors,  I am able to write down my assignments, and I am able to do my homework and submit it on time, all with no trouble. For example, in a class I am enrolled in called, Philosophy of Religion, I have to be responsible to read three chapters in our book and discuss it in front of a lecture hall of about fifty students. I have been doing so well in this and my professor loves to hear my thoughts about the religious arguments that we are reading about. Again, going back to my high school years, I would never be able to do any of that without having a panic episode each day about it or struggling to find the time to read the chapters for the class discussion.

      Another way that I am proud of myself is because of the extra curricular activities that I am participating in. I’m not one to try new activities, especially if I’m not doing a new activity with a friend. But, to my surprise, I decided I was going to be outgoing and join some clubs. Currently, I am in the Future Educators Club, Psychology Club, and I am planning to try out for the club volleyball team in the near future. I believe that I will join more clubs as the academic year goes on and cannot wait to do so. I feel that all of these activities that I am doing do not affect my school work at all. If I were in high school, and had all these activities, I definitely would be struggling, but in college, I definitely have tons of time on my hands to do these activities. Overall, stressing over college and time management for college is pointless. Try new things and be proud of your new accomplishments. You may never know if you like it if you don’t try it.