Student Blog: How Do College Students Balance Such a Busy Life?

Welcome back to my blog! I am so excited to be back writing more about theatre, college life, and internships! In this post, I am going to be covering how to manage your course load along with clubs and other activities.

My freshman year at the University of Michigan was INCREDIBLY busy. UMich is well known for the sheer number of clubs it has (over 1,000), and I knew going into last year that I wanted to join a lot of them. However, UMich is also known for its rigorous academics and challenging workload, which I saw a lot of in my prerequisites for my Business Administration degree. Due to this, I knew I had to spend some time planning my semesters and class schedule, and make some choices regarding what was really best for me. So if you’re an incoming college freshman (or even a sophomore), this is for you; my top five tips for balancing your course work, clubs, and activities, all while giving yourself time to decompress and spend time with your friends.

#1. Try everything!

One of the pieces of advice I got the most last year from upperclassmen, teachers, and advisors, was to try everything that remotely interested me. The cool thing about clubs is that they all have a mass meeting at the beginning of each semester, which is essentially a large informational session that you can go to to learn more about the club and meet the people involved. These meetings are completely commitment-free, so you can go to as many as you want to get a feel for if it’s a good fit for you. This is also how you can filter out what you aren’t interested in, so you can dedicate your time to things that you are interested in. These meetings really gave me the freedom to check out everything that sounded like I might enjoy. Some of the mass meetings I attended were for Women’s Ultimate Frisbee, Marketing Club, and Taylor Swift Club! While I didn’t join all of them, I am very happy that I still tried them out, because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have found the clubs that I did end up joining! 

#2. Google Calendar

I will never stop talking about Google Calendar and how it has changed my life. While pledging a business fraternity first semester, we were required to use Google Calendar to schedule all of our coffee chats, meetings, and other events. While it was difficult at first (I’ve never been a very thorough planner), I owe so much to it because it truly changed the way I plan my time and organize my tasks. In Google Calendar, you can schedule blocks of time for absolutely anything, whether it’s class, an important dinner, or even set-aside study time. You can also invite people to your events and be invited by others, so if you click “accept” that event will show up in your own calendar! If you take one thing from this blog, please let it be to make yourself a Google Calendar, I promise you will thank me!

#3. Don’t spread yourself too thin

The one word that every college student experiences: BURNOUT. It is so easy to commit to so many things, or your course load starts to pile up, or you go out one too many times and can’t get out of bed the next morning. All of these things alone are enough to cause burnout, but the life of a college student typically includes all of these and more, which makes burnout inevitable. That’s why it’s important to not spread yourself too thin, don’t let the things and the stuff take over. Leave an hour or two every day to do something for yourself, whether that’s watching your favorite show, reading a book, or even taking a nap!

#4. Say no

There are countless opportunities and things to do in college. There’s always going to be a party or an activity going on, and even though you’re going to want to go (YOLO, right?), it’s important to say no sometimes, too. I’m not saying you should never go to parties, parties are one of the best parts of college! But if it’s a Friday night, you’re exhausted from the week, and you have a huge Calculus test on Monday, it might be a good idea to say “no” on that particular night. Then, once you’re well-rested and the test is taken, you can have all of your energy and be ready for a fun weekend.

#5. Find uncommon study spaces

At UMich, the Shapiro Library (known as the Ugli to students) is the ultimate hot-spot for homework and group project meet-ups. On a normal day, it’s nearly impossible to find an empty table, and during exam season you don’t even want to step foot inside the busy building. The lesson here is that if you really need to double down and study, the crammed library isn’t the place to do it. Instead, find your own study space away from the general public. My favorite spots were my dorm’s lounge (which was always deserted), the sixth floor of one of the libraries, and the basement of the Social Work building. All of these places typically had little to no people using them, which meant I was guaranteed some peace and quiet to do my work.

There you have it,  my top five tips for balancing your course work, clubs, and activities! As someone who just completed my freshman year, these are all things that I practiced in my day-to-day life, and I encourage you to do the same! Just remember to stay healthy and do things that fill you with joy. Until next time!

Peace and love,

Natalie

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