Am I Doing Too Little or Too Much?: Finding Balance in College

Ever since starting college in the Fall of 2020, I have been conflicted with organizing my schedule. Because of the online nature of my first two semesters in college, I was able to overload my class schedule along with clubs and an internship. As we transitioned back to college in person, I have begun to realize that the schedule that worked for me at home, did not work for being at school. It was physically impossible for me to handle all of the credits, an internship requiring ten hours a week, and several clubs. 

This semester, I have made it my mission to realistically consider my schedule and come to terms with the fact that I don’t need to fill every waking moment of my day with something. I talked with advisors extensively about which classes I needed to take and when so that I wasn’t feeling overwhelmed with credits, I took a step back from my internship and I redirected my focus onto clubs and working on my friendships. For once in the three semesters that I’ve been at college, I don’t feel incredibly overwhelmed with coursework simply because I realized that I don’t need to overload my schedule to be successful.

But then there is the other perspective of a major shift in my scheduling: I feel like I am not doing enough and that I am falling behind my peers. Coming from a high-pressure high school environment to a high-pressure college environment, I am so accustomed to the idea of being stressed all of the time because at least it’s supposed to amount to something worthwhile. Furthermore, I live with three incredible women who handle the most chaotic schedules of all time with apparent ease. I know they must have their own stresses and anxieties about maintaining their business, but it’s truly incredible to see how inspirational the people around me are. 

My goal for the remainder of the semester is to focus on reducing my anxiety with feeling overwhelmed. I understand that there will be times in which I am handling a lot of things and that there will be times when it doesn’t seem like I’m working on a lot, but the important part is that I am focusing so much more on the state of my own mental health. I can’t wait to see how I learn to work through my anxieties in the future and continue to develop as a college student and a person. 

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