I’m a first semester freshman taking 18 credit hours, participating on four executive boards, with two internships, and a job, and I’m on the Oxford College Varsity Golf team. And yes, I do have a social life; I’m taping into ΩΔ and have a boyfriend at Georgia Tech.
I knew how important experience and leadership were in high school in order to get into a good college, so during the first few weeks of college, I used “Handshake,” an app and a website, to find possible jobs and internships. I applied and interviewed for many, but being a freshman, it was hard to find ones that were a good fit for me. I ended up getting an online internship with Green Global Travel, an online magazine for which I manage the Pinterest Account, an internship with the Federal Defenders Program, a law firm working on death penalty cases, and a job with Arts Production as an event planner. I love everything I do, and these jobs have helped me figure out what I would like to do in life. My GGT internship is fun to me, my law internship has made me realize that I would like to go into law (while I was pre-business before), and my work allows me to be on a team with my best friend while making $$$.
Planning ahead of time is the main component to managing it all. I know that I’m at the law firm until 5pm on most days and won’t get back to campus until 6pm, so I always plan to study between classes, at night, or on weekends. I schedule club meetings after I get back from work so I am able to attend, and I sign up for shifts for events in the evening. I go to golf tournaments on weekends, work out during the week, and practice by myself when I have time (which, to be honest, hasn’t been often enough).
In terms of having friends and a relationship, I was blessed to have very understanding friends and boyfriend. If your friends don’t allow you to be busy and to do your best, then they simply aren’t your friends. Having a social life shouldn’t take any of your time, so being busy during the day shouldn’t impede on your friendships or relationships.
Because of scheduling, I’m able to see my boyfriend every weekend, and we go home on the same weekends, since we are both from St. Pete, Florida. I also spend my nights at Oxford studying with my best friend, and go to dinner with my friends, so I’ve been able to have fun and be social, while doing all the work I need to get done.
When it comes to taping into a social club at Oxford, I understand that it is time consuming, but if they aren’t willing to work with you and allow you to have time to work and study, then it’s not worth it. ΩΔ (Omega Delta) has been very understanding and nice about my commitments, so that I could keep going through the tap-in process while being as busy as I am. If you’re looking to tap into a social club while doing other things in life, I recommend finding one that is understanding of your time.
But I’m not perfect and it can be hard to deal with it all. I’m overly busy during the week and sometimes, skip lunch. I also don’t get A’s on all of my exams, which is okay. It’s college and it’s hard, so don’t think that you need to have a 4.0 GPA while managing internships, jobs, athletics, and more… As long as you do your best and enjoy what you do, you’re doing great!
Coffee Photo via Visual hunt