Struggles of Life and College, Essay Example

College is a huge jump from high school in terms of responsibilities and challenges. In high school, we only have to worry about academic and everything else is taken care of but in college, not only courses become more difficult and challenging but we are also responsible for personal expenses, college expenses, and household tasks. The only thing that doesn’t change is the length of the day and, thus, successfully navigating through college is quite difficult if not impossible without careful planning and time-management skills.

When I started this course, I knew that it will require significant time commitment from me, thus, I started creating weekly schedules to reserve study time for this course, study time for other courses, job, household tasks, and social activities. This helped me remained calm instead of becoming stressed out and allowed me to perform all my responsibilities efficiently. I didn’t sacrifice my social life nor did I let my job get affected and still I managed my course responsibilities well. A weekly schedule also provided me a yardstick to monitor my progress and reminded me that I could not afford carelessness otherwise things may get out of control.

When I got the course syllabus, I went through the whole syllabus to get an idea of the nature of the assignments. I tried to get a rough idea of the time the assignments may require so that I could start lengthy ones well in advance to evenly spread the course load. There were some assignments whose time requirement was difficult to estimate, thus, I sought guidance from my friends who had already taken the course. They not only answered my questions but also gave me other useful tips from their experiences that enhanced my overall learning in the course.

Just as it pays to seek the guidance of those with experience, it also pays to know where the help can be found. I never hesitated to go to the writing center where the staff was always helpful and patient as well as contacting friends who I knew could help me in studies. Similarly, I was never hesitant to ask the instructor if I might have questions. Asking questions earlier not only ensured that I did my assignments well but they also saved time by preventing costly rework and frustration later.

From my past, I know that studying with friends helps pass the time but I also noticed that I would study less in a given period of time. This semester, I decided to study alone (Middle Tennessee State University) and the results were surprising. Not only I covered more but also understood my lessons better because there were no distractions. This strategy was especially beneficial because I also didn’t have the luxury of time I used to have. To ensure that studying alone doesn’t lead to boredom, I would take ten-minute break after even forty-minute study session.

I also made sure that every night I get proper sleep. I remember in high school that sometimes I would sleep for five hours and though I would always wake up on time, I would sometimes feel sleepy in the class or would take more time understanding a material. Thus, I decided to take sleep of at least seven hours every night. This is why I have limited social activities to the weekend only and it has been working well.

I have learnt that a lot more can be achieved through proper planning, determination, and discipline and this will also help me in the real world when life may become even more challenging. My success during this semester has increased my self confidence and I plan to maintain these habits throughout the entire college career.

Reference

Middle Tennessee State University. Ten Tips You Need to Survive College. 20 April 2012 <http://frank.mtsu.edu/~studskl/10tips.html>.