Where did all that time come from?
In college, you will have a lot more time on your hands, and most of it is yours to allocate. How do you make the right decisions about it?
Time? What's that?
Time has always been an issue. But college would be different right? After all, now that I'm older and going off on my own, I'll be organized so that I can manage everything I want to do. Here's something I don't think I realized when I left for Tufts at the end of last August, and it's something that comforts me as much as it annoys me: just because you move somewhere new doesn't mean your fundamental being changes. I've grown incredibly since I got here, discovered new things, made new friends, and still struggled with the same things I did back home. There are only 24 hours in the day, and I'm regularly awake (or some form of awake) for at least 19 of them. There's just so much to do here, and I'm not even involved in Greek life. I do however have a job, homework, people to keep in touch with and exams to pass.
Some nights, sitting in my common room at 4 am, I wonder why I keep trying to fit everything in when I clearly am unable to handle it completely. It's in these moments that I consider what I did with my day, to try and determine where it all went wrong. Get up, grab a bagel from Dewick with a couple friends, head to class and try and muddle out what the Affordable Care Act is all about in Community Health. Mostly fail, head over to the ResLife office to submit an application for next year's housing, wolf down lunch so I have time for a nap. After 20 minutes of powernapping (you'll get really good at it in college, trust me), run to Physics and grin as my professor explains that to solve the problem on the board, you need to use the ruling principle of Physics, which is to do as little as possible to get to a result. Next, more talk about the Affordable Care Act. I may never fully understand America, but things are getting a little clearer. It's rainy and cold, and just generally gross, so a pick-me-up is in order. Coffee topped with whipped cream and cinnamon will do the trick. To round out the afternoon, homework. At 8 pm, head over to Cohen Auditorium to hear the stories of some incredibly brave and beautiful sexual assault survivors. Leave with tears in eyes. Get ice cream and more coffee from Hodgdgon-on-the-Run and continue homework. Decide to procrastinate and write blog post instead. And that's where I'm at right now, at 11 pm. Still to do: a ton of reading, a couple hours for my job, and get crushed by my roommate and best friend at Super Smash Bros.
I may end up in the common room at 4 am again. But here's the thing: I wouldn't give up any of the things I did today, because they were all awesome in their own way. Well, except the homework, but apparently if I want to get a quality education I have to do it. My time management skills haven't gotten any better yet, but I'm slowly working towards it. Most every second I've spent at Tufts so far has been worthy of my time, even the ones watching Netflix and eating goldfish. Sometimes wasting a little time, whether you're reading, watching a TV show, or throwing a football around is necessary. You may be overwhelmed by everything that there is to do here, and need a little down time. That's OK too. And so during those late nights, I'll smile at myself, get back to work and look forward to everything tomorrow has to offer. Cause Tufts is so worth it.
