It’s Monday morning. You are way too mad about the fact that you have a whole new week ahead of you, so instead of getting out of bed to get ready for class, you pull your blanket closer and open up Instagram. While doing so, you’re disappointed that the guy who swore he’d text you Friday night has still yet to appear on your phone screen, despite the fact that you missed a graded quiz just to hang out with him last week. You scroll on. You see that the annoying girl you know from high school who is always preaching about yoga and acai bowls posted something seven minutes ago, and you wonder why this girl is Instagramming at such a poor time to receive likes. As you question her judgement, you see she has posted something using the hashtag #MantraMonday. It reads “I’m a great believer in good luck. The harder I work, the more luck I have.” You make a funny face at your phone and realize you needed this cheesy quote right now because despite what you’d like to think, divine intervention doesn’t actually help you pass exams — dedication and studying do.
Finals week is quickly approaching, and you cannot even remember the last time you spent more than two hours at the library studying. In our fast-paced world ruled by 20-somethings searching for some kind of person to make lonely nights feel less lonely, it is easy to compromise your grades for companionship. There’s probably no section on your future law-school applications that asks you to place a check mark if your GPA is not up to par due to excessive hours spent trying to craft the perfect text to some boy or spending way more Sundays than you’d prefer watching football with your boyfriend and his roommates. For the sake of your future success and your not-so-out-of-reach dream of graduating magna cum laude, you should probably give up some boy time for some book time.
Not to stomp on your love life or anything, but it really is easy to forget sometimes that college is actually a place for us to graduate with a degree. Despite the endless nights out at Midtown, the frat parties, the pool parties, the wine nights with friends, the eat-pizza-in-your-pajamas nights and the date nights, it is hard to remember that most of these nights should probably be spent working on assignments or studying for exams instead.
You can get lost within all of the appealing distractions that a college town has to offer. In a college town, walking into a bar or frat party can often be like walking into a Tiffany & Co. store. It is way too easy to get lured in by the shiniest, prettiest object. Just like you have to watch your wallet and avoid expensive jewelry, you should likewise watch your lectures and avoid the social scene for a bit. Jewelry costs you money that you can’t afford, and hanging out with the cute guy costs you the grade you can’t afford to miss.
Nothing is wrong with having a relationship or pursuing the prospect of one, but really the only thing about your life that relatively parallels with Cinderella is not the love story, but the fact that when the clock turns 12 at midnight, your assignment is due. Keep in mind that a guy can leave you at any time, but your GPA and letters of recommendation stay with you forever. Study hard this upcoming finals week, collegiettes!
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