“How many credits are you taking?”
“14,” she answered, looking down at her lunch. “What about you?”
“Oh, I’m taking 18.”
“WHAT?! Are you crazy?”
This is the all-around reaction I get when any of my friends ask me how many class credits I am taking this semester. It’s true that 18 credits is the most that UF will let any student take at one time, yet there is an extremely small amount of people who actually take this many at once. And yes, I am one of them.
This past fall semester I took 17 credits (including reporting, which is one of the most-dropped journalism classes at UF). I was able to pass each and every one of those credits, so this semester I decided to tackle 18 credits. Long story short, I’m on the fast track to graduate in December, and I didn’t randomly decide to take an extremely large number of classes just for fun.
I’ve learned so much about myself and my life by tackling this many courses at once. And if you have a crazy-busy schedule and aren’t sure that you’ll even be able to see your friends, let alone go out on a weekday night, think again because I am living proof that it is possible to do.
The trick behind handling so much at once is to avoid procrastination at all costs. It’s amazing how much time you have when you decide to complete an assignment the day it’s given to you, rather than waiting two weeks to complete it on the day it’s due. This is also true when studying for exams. Even if you just study for half an hour each day, you will be so much more prepared around midterm- and final-exam time, even with a heavy course load.
My second piece of advice is to focus on one assignment at a time. If you’re thinking about multiple assignments at once and worrying about how you are going to finish them all in time for your classes, you’ll end up wasting more time worrying about what could go wrong instead of just completing assignments. An extreme example of this happened to me just the other morning. I had a 10:40 a.m. class with a page-and-a-half paper due. I had set multiple alarms for 7 a.m. to work on my paper the three hours before I had to leave for class. I must have turned off my alarms in my sleepy state of mind because when I did finally wake up, it was 10:20! I only had 20 minutes to type a paper with references, get dressed and get to my class that was a 20-minute walk away.
I jumped out of bed and immediately cleared my mind to only focus on this paper. Somehow I was able to start and finish my paper in less than 15 minutes, print it out, throw on clothes and call an Uber to get me to class on time. I made it to class and turned in my paper. A year ago, this feat would have definitely been impossible. I would have probably started crying and not known what to do in my situation. Instead, I totally cleared my mind and worked in complete overdrive to find the correct articles for my paper, back up my arguments and type out an APA-style reference sheet, all in time for class.
I know that’s an extreme example, and I’m hoping I’ll never have to deal with something even half that rushed anytime again in the future. But my point is that you should be able to finish your assignment in the time it is given to you, regardless of if you are taking 12 credits or 18 credits. You should just focus on the task at hand.
My final piece of advice is to make sure you schedule time for yourself to go out and have some fun with your friends. You will become beyond stressed out and miserable if you spend your time studying 24/7. Everyone needs a break eventually, as well as fun things to look forward to. So go to that sorority formal, fraternity date function and to a wine night with your friends. You deserve it.
With these three pieces of advice you should be able to take on any number of credits and still have time for fun. Study hard this semester, collegiettes!
Photo credits: pinterest.com