When I was in high school I couldn’t wait until I was in college. All of the stories about the freedom and the partying made me feel like “Wow! I’m going to love college”! But honestly, now that I am in college I’ve realized that it is definitely not what I had expected. I knew college would be way harder than high school, but I didn’t really expect things would move at such a fast pace. One week you might not have anything due, but the next thing you know you have two midterms and an essay due the following week.

On another note, there is a lot more freedom that goes along with college life, and it has both good and bad points. The good part is that nobody tells you what you can or can’t do; therefore you can do whatever you want. On the other hand, some people don’t know how to manage their time effectively, so a lot of freedom can have a negative impact on them. For instance, who wouldn’t rather go to a party instead of studying, take a nap instead of reading, or hang out with friends instead of doing home work? I guess what I am trying to say is that when you’re in college, you feel like you have time for everything – and you do, if you manage your time well. If you don’t, you really can end up not having time for anything.

For me, having an on-campus job is a great way for me to get my homework done. I know that I have a set 3-6 hours a day to do homework and nothing else. Perhaps you don’t want a job or maybe you just can’t find one, but you can still get into a routine and make time to do your homework without interruptions.

Here are some tips to manage the fast pace of college:

• Learn to manage your time. Set aside a certain amount of time to for homework and studying every day. Go to the library or somewhere where you can’t be distracted. (For me, it’s my on-campus job!) Once you get your homework done you will have the rest of the time to hang out with friends and socialize.
• Plan ahead. Keep track of your syllabus for each course – don’t just look at the things due for the current week. Planning ahead for the following week will give you an idea of when you should start assignments so you won’t be stressed out. You will also be more likely to be prepared for a surprise quiz or test (this happens a lot) if you keep up with your reading and homework assignments.
• Don’t get into the habit of procrastinating. Putting off what you need to do only makes things worse. School work will continue to pile up and you’ll probably get stressed out.

-Erica