High school can be hard sometimes. There’s homework, studying, sports, clubs, jobs, and college applications, all while attempting to balance a healthy social life and your mental and physical health. It’s a lot and if you are like me, it means everything to you to do it all. I thrived nightly on four to five hours of sleep because I got home from work at 11:30 and then started my homework. I put insane amounts of pressure on myself to get straight A’s and also have as much fun as possible in the process. If there is one thing I learned in my first year of college, it’s that this isn’t possible in college.
Homework and studying is approximately a million times more involved in college. You’ll be assigned to read eighty pages in one night, a five-page paper in two days, and put together a twenty minute presentation in ten minutes or less. All of this is present with the overwhelming pressure in the social sphere to make and entertain friends at nearly all hours of the day and participate in as many resume builders as humanly possible. Chances are, most of us also have to add a paid job to it because we simply won’t be able to sustain ourselves otherwise. It’s a lot to handle and unless you’re literally super human and have the ability to add more time to the day, you simply won’t be able to do it.
The most important thing for anyone to remember is to relax. You shouldn’t be the same person you were in high school when you’re in college. It is 110% okay to not maintain a 4.0, only have a small group of friends, or only be in a club or two. Time management is important and you always have to make time to take care of yourself. It’s okay to skip a meeting or only read 20 of 80 pages for the night. It’s not possible to do it all in college, and chances are that if you try, you’ll just run yourself dry.