Social life. Good grades. Plenty of sleep.
These are the three things that every college student painstakingly strives to achieve and to the chagrin of most, are usually only able to pick two. It’s a philosophy that has been mocked in Internet memes for years, but for many college students it’s unfortunately true.
Granted, this isn’t to say it’s always as straightforward as this “formula.” Getting plenty of sleep doesn’t necessarily always mean you’ll get good grades; having a social life doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t get plenty of sleep; etc.
As a grad student, I find myself balancing a lot of responsibilities and honestly, classes often get pushed to the bottom of that priority list, unfortunately. This isn’t ideal for me, nor is it probably ideal for my professor. I came back to school for an advanced degree and often find myself focusing more on other things aside from those classes.
As a Resident Assistant in Cayuga Hall and managing editor of the Oswegonian, it’s often hard to balance all of these things. I don’t even know if I fall into the three aforementioned “needs;” I have a social life, but if you ask anybody who knows me, I don’t sleep during the week because I’m at the Oswegonian office until all hours of the night, nor am I particularly getting the best grades (at least not as well as I’d hope).
If I had to pick two “goals” at this stage of the semester, they would be: social life, resume building. Good grades and plenty of sleep aren’t even on the table, at least not in the way I’d prefer. Yes, I think I’ll be okay as far as grades go, but I’m not focusing as much on my classes as I should. On the positive side, I’m doing things that can build my resume and help me get a better job, which is why I came back to Oswego in the first place.
With the semester winding down (I can’t believe it’s already Halloween), many students probably find themselves evaluating the semester up to this point. They’re asking themselves what did they do wrong, what they did right, where do they go from here. If you were able to balance all three of those goals at the top of this page, then props to you. If you weren’t, you’re not alone. I couldn’t even balance two of them.
But I’ll be okay.