Entering college means your schedule is about to fill up fast.
And I'm not just talking about your courses.
Getting involved in clubs and organizations,
hanging with your friends, and your new-found independence
are some of the best parts of college.
But it's easy to get overwhelmed.
When I was in college, I was balancing 20 credits,
an internship, being in a sorority, and working a part-time job.
But, I survived. How?
Say it with me, time management.
Stick around for some of the best tips
for balancing academics and social life
and not getting burnt out.
I'm CC Allen from Now This, and you're watching
"A Student's Guide To Your First Year of College."
If you have an opportunity throughout college
to do more than just go to class,
do that. All right, try some things on.
Look for club opportunities.
Find some mentorships.
Volunteer in your community.
And I only say that if you can
because a lot of us will have a ton of stuff on our plates.
So maybe that's not your-- your thing that you're able to do
'cause you're in a sport or you're, you know.
but think about all the experiences
outside of the classroom
that are gonna be so much more important.
( music playing )
Today's episode is all about managing your time
between school, social life, and more.
To make sure you get started on the right foot,
here's Hashim Pipkin, the Director of Communications
at the Opportunity Network.
There are a number of challenges that can cause anxiety in stu--
graduating 12th grade and heading into college.
It is a completely new educational experience
with a really robust social element.
But I think if you start to unpack
what actually are all the elements that make up your college experience,
you're better suited to kinda negotiate and navigate that landscape.
How do you manage partying, I guess, and studying?
I do enjoy, you know having fun with friends.
You know, going out, playing basketball.
But I want to balance, like, going to class and stuff
because I do have to maintain a 3.3 GPA.
In terms of striking a balance between academics and, kinda, social life
is really focusing too much naturally on one or the other
and not really taking time to step back and reflect
and take inventory of when they are feeling drained.
At the end of every week, before the start of the next week,
take stock of what the parties are for that unique and particular week.
And I think it's really imperative that students in college, especially freshmen,
start building the muscle memory and habits
around proactive planning in alignment with what
you want to actually achieve that week.
Find a network of close friends that you feel
can kinda guide you and you them
through these social opportunities.
Because always those social opportunities should fall
secondary to what is urgent and top of mind
for the reason you're at college,
which is to get good grades, achieve,
but also have a good time, right?
So everything in balance.
Did you practice good time management your freshman year?
The start of it, no. ( laughing )
The start of it, I did not.
I was just taking it day by day.
But I got better-- I had to get better with it spring semester
or I was not gonna make it through.
Time management, becoming an adult, you need it.
I schedule my weeks, like, two weeks in advance.
- That's a good idea. - It takes time
and it takes practice, but as long as you have the layout of what you're doing,
- it really does help you. - You do just have to know your deadlines
and when things are getting done.
You know, if your deadline is on Sunday 11:59,
I don't think it's smart to go out on that Saturday
and stay out till 4AM in the morning.
So I do think that it's important to, you know,
balance between, you know, going out and having fun
'cause, you know, you do need your, you know, break days.
But just make sure that, you know,
I'm here in college for, you know, academics,
so I need to, you know,
keep a balance between those two.
If I have a regret, it would be my only regret about college,
is how much time I spent not doing anything,
but also not enjoying that time that I spent not doing anything.
I was very active on college campus.
Football was the main thing for me.
My academics were right after that.
And so I would put in-- allot this much time
for my prep for football,
this was gonna be my study time,
and then whatever else I had left
I divvy that-- either I was going to do something in community
or social things on campus,
but making sure that my priorities
were always taking the majority of my time.
Go out and have a good time.
But also never forget why you're there.
You wanna be involved, you wanna be engaged,
you wanna be involved in your extracurriculars.
You don't what to spread yourself too thin.
But you do want to find those things that you think,
for whatever reason, can add value
to your collegiate experience.
Be very careful and cautious
about both the time that you spend
and who you're spending that time with.
You know, people can think sometimes because of college life, it's like,
"Oh, I have all the time in the world."
And the truth is is that when you're talking about productive time, you don't.
So that time that you do have, you want to be careful with it.
So let's recap. One, focus on time management.
Make a list of what's at stake in the week ahead.
Two, forge good relationships.
Bounce things off people who are not afraid to tell you
when you're doing too much or not enough.
Thanks so much for watching
"A Student's Guide To Your First Year of College."