Upon entering college, I had not put much thought into how much my priorities would change. Sure, I’ve heard people make comments about how you need to study nonstop in college if you want to succeed, or how the only majors that get to have a social life are education and business. However, I thought that I would be able to spend an appropriate amount of time studying, while also be able to maintain a thriving social life and make new friends. After all, in high school I played three different sports and participated in many clubs, and still graduated in the top five percent. I mean how hard can balancing your priorities really be? The answer is: hard.
I’m willing to bet most of you have seen the triangular diagram depicting the three important priorities in college students’ lives: good grades, enough sleep, and a social life (if not, scroll up a little). The diagram prompts you to pick only two out of the three corners, basically stating that there is no possible way to have the best of both worlds, or in this case, three worlds. For instance, say a student, Joe, wants to do really well in all of his classes, but also wants to attend his fraternity’s functions every weekend. That’s fine, in fact its great! Joe can work hard and play hard, what more could he want? Sleep, he’ll probably be wanting more sleep. See, if Joe has to study late during the weeknights, and then proceeds to stay out late during weekends, his sleep patterns will suffer the consequence. Then, if Joe decides he’s going to get more sleep, and still try to get good grades in his courses, he probably won’t be attending many/any of his functions, which would be quite boring. What’s a guy to do? Well, he could choose to get enough sleep and attend his functions, that just requires him to spend a little less time studying, no big deal, right? Wrong. Joe attends his functions on the weekend and catches up on sleep during the week, putting in minimal time on his assignments and preparing for exams. Before Joe knows it, he’s falling behind on assignments for his classes, barely turning in things in on time or to the best of his ability. So, what is the right combination? How can Joe live out his priorities to the fullest without one big part of his life suffering? Is there a way Joe can have a happy balance of all three?
I suppose this dilemma is something that the average student has to face at one point, and often, like Joe, it’s not until one part of your life starts going downhill that you start to notice the shift in your priorities. At the beginning of the semester, I was convinced that my courses were not going to be too difficult, that I was going to be able to focus a lot of my attention on meeting new friends. This was something that did concern me a lot, being an out of state student, I came to college knowing no one and not a lot about the area. I learned the hard way that I was wrong. I was in engineering, what was I thinking? Of course my classes were going to be challenging, that’s what I signed up for! So, after realizing my faux pas, I adjusted my priorities, spending a little less time worrying about my social life and investing more time in my grades. I have finally reached a good balance between the two. However, I definitely could be getting more sleep. So, as the semester is coming to a close, I still find myself working on figuring out the perfect balance of all three aspects. Personally, I’ve discovered that some days require or allot for different combinations. While Monday through Thursday may demand a concentration on mostly grades and sleep. The weekends normally have allotted the time for socializing. Therefore, though we are all constantly works in progress, it’s most important to recognize that everyone’s priorities are different, and different combinations are going to work for different people. The ultimate goal is finding and developing what works best for you, and how to successfully implement in into your life.