As college students, we always get asked about what our major is and what we want to do after undergraduate school, whether it’s by our peers, professors, bosses, or even family members. I’m an English major, which often elicits “what do you plan on doing with that,” and am on a pre-law track, which gets a “wow you must be so smart!” I get very offended when I see people’s reaction change as soon as I talk about wanting to go to law school because I think all majors are equal and that not being pre-med, pre-law, or pre-bus does NOT equate to being dumber than those who are. If I made it into college, clearly I’m motivated and intelligent, don’t judge me based on my major.
Yes, pre-med students who are majoring in biology and chemistry have a lot on their plate: many exams, lots of quizzes, memorizing terms and facts, etc.. But other majors are underestimated because even though they might not have to go to lab, they have the same amount of exams and have to write 5-10 page papers every other week (at least I do). Even those who are taking lighter loads or “easy” 100-level courses are often busy with work, leadership positions, or sports; no matter what one is majoring in or studying, he or she is bound to be busy constantly and have late nights, it’s college!
Some will argue “well my roommate is majoring in -blank- and he/she is always partying and going out,” but that happens in every college with students in all sorts of majors. Those people are either so smart that they don’t need to study, or they probably go by the saying that “Cs get degrees,” but either way, they probably have the same workload as you, they just aren’t putting in the effort to get As in the class. Personally, I find myself having many free nights, simply because I spend my weekends doing all of the homework and studying I know I have to do the following week; I wake up early even on weekends, which helps tremendously with staying on top of my school work while allowing me to be involved on campus and to stay a student-athlete.
If you struggle with staying on top of school work and everything else, no matter your major or track, here are some tips and tricks I developed and thought of last year:
- Get involved in clubs that do not have weekly meetings
- Don’t take on too many leadership positions
- Academics come first
- Spend your free time getting ahead on work, in case anything major happens or is assigned during the week
- Spend your study breaks socializing or napping to stay balanced (TAKE STUDY BREAKS!!!!)