Balancing Passion and Pressure: What Taking 19 Credits Taught Me About Time and Sanity
Introduction:
Welcome back, everyone! This week, I am going to share a little bit about my experiences from taking 19 credits during a college semester while trying to balance friendships, a good sleep schedule, fitness, piano practice, learning a language, and other responsibilities I had. For reference, I am a junior in college, and I am studying business administration with a minor in entrepreneurship and a double certificate in finance and professional selling. I am almost completely finished with my degree requirements. After this fall semester, I only need to take seven more classes in order to graduate. My plan is to take 5 classes this spring and take the final two over the summer before I study abroad in Japan for my senior year at NDSU.
How is My Fall Semester Going?
Monday, October 20th, will be the official halfway point of the semester. I am taking 19 credits and am doing fairly well in all of my classes so far. The classes I am currently taking include English Writing, Professional Selling, Finance, Family Business Management, Business Law: Contracts and Torts, Accounting, and Concert Choir. I currently have an A in every class, but one of them is pretty close to a B right now. Overall, I think I am managing the workload pretty well, although I find that I do not have much free time once I finish all of the necessities that I need to do in a day. On top of doing homework and studying for classes, I am also studying Japanese for about an hour a day on my own. It is starting to become quite difficult to stay motivated to learn the language. I am definitely starting to feel some burnout, especially when the weekends hit. I found myself scrolling on Instagram for an hour before starting any homework this morning. I also have responsibilities for the concert choir that take up quite a bit of my time. I am the PR officer, so I design all of our social media posts and am constantly working on new projects.
My Advice about Time Management and Keeping Your Sanity.
I have a few things I would like to share that could potentially help you in the future if you plan on taking a heavy credit load in college. The number one thing you have to determine before you take over 18 credits is, "Do I have the time to commit to this?" and "Am I going to give these classes my best effort?" If you do not have a positive, determined mindset when going into a tough semester of credits, you will fall behind and likely drop a class. I have even had to drop a few less important hobbies this semester because I do not have time to pursue them with everything else I am working on. You will likely have to make sacrifices that will benefit you in the long run. Another thing that I have found to be extremely important when taking this many classes is to HAVE A SCHEDULE. I cannot stress enough how important it is to write a schedule of your classes for each week. Specifically, I write down each class on the first page in my notebook on the Sunday before each week of class. I then go through the syllabus for that week and write down all homework assignments, readings, projects, etc., and when they are due. Then throughout the week, I cross them off as they are completed. For projects and important dates that I do not want to forget, I then put those in my phone calendar with an alert that will go off an hour, and then 30 minutes before that event.
Prioritizing sleep, exercise, and healthy eating habits will do wonders for your work endurance, managing stress levels, and keeping you motivated. I hit the gym 6 times a week, no matter what. I know that it contributes significantly to how I perform in the classroom and my overall motivation for the day/week. If you haven't exercised much before, now is the time to start. Some people will complain that they "don't have time" to hit the gym or exercise because they are taking 19 credits, but that is just a lame excuse and does not help their case. I would also recommend making time in your day/week to just chill. When you are working on homework, great, lock in and avoid distractions. But when you finish a day's worth of homework, it is important to give your brain a break. I like to watch shows or play video games for a little while before bed to help keep my lifestyle balance. Also, having a supporting group of peers who understand how grueling 19 credits is can be a great resource to rely on.
Closing Thoughts
19 credits of classes is a fairly heavy workload, especially if you have other responsibilities like a part-time job. But the feeling of completing those 19 credits and going off to Christmas or summer break will be an amazing feeling of accomplishment. In summary, stay disciplined, make a schedule, give yourself time each day to recover or pursue hobbies, find a good friend group, and you will do great. Thanks for tuning in this week! See you soon.
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