Student Blog: Balancing our Crazy Crazy World

Photo Credit to the University of Northern Colorado

Something that all college students have to learn is how to balance their work life, social life, and student life. It's also important to note that all three of these aspects are incredibly important to a healthy mental and physical state. As a musical theater major, a lot of free time decreases tenfold. Now I'm definitely no expert on creating perfect harmony in my activities, but I've definitely learned some tricks that could be useful to my fellow peers. Here are my top three tips to help keep balance in a musical theater major's busy college life.

1. Make Time for your Values

One way to start finding yourself is to prioritize what matters most to you. Of course, we are all in college to learn and develop our craft, but we all need to keep in mind that there is more to college and to our lives than just theater. What do you want your college experience to look like? I know personally that I really care about the people that I meet and the relationships I make. Not only that, but we have access to so many new experiences in this chapter of our lives. Take a new class, apply for internships, join a sports team; there are unlimited options and there is no better time to explore new things. Something to pursue is how to become a well-rounded person. I know we all have our heart and soul set on musical theater, but our hearts have room for more passions and more people. Now is the time to determine what matters to us, and hold tight to it!

2. Do your Best Work

Doing the work is more than just showing up or meeting a deadline. This is the time where we truly get to focus on ourselves and pay attention to our growth. Our years in college are very precious, and in the grand scheme of things, very small. We all need to put as much effort as we can into our work. Remember that this is what we want to do for the rest of our lives, we should make sure that we are gaining the tools necessary to be successful in the future. I'm sure the stress of our workload can start to feel incredibly overwhelming, but we aren't all expected to be perfect. We just have to take it one step at a time. We are doing this for ourselves. Why not try your best?

3. Mental Health is Important!

We are all human and all have limitations. Even on those days where you barely showed up to class, be proud of yourself! At that moment, that was the best work that you could do. And that's okay! I think we forget that we are working with normal people too. Our professors and our peers all struggle with the same things. Sometimes they can be a lot more understanding than our own assumptions. All we have to do is communicate and ask for help and solutions can be found. I know there is no way that I could balance my job, classes and social life without the help and care of my professors and friends. Keeping a balanced life also means making sure that YOU are a priority in YOUR own life.

I am only a sophomore, so I still have a lot to learn and a lot to work on, but I do think that these tips have served me well throughout my college journey. I hope they can help you too! Balance is something that people work on for their entire lives, but I think it's something that should be worked on. Just know that we're all figuring it out together, and that is a pretty wonderful thing.

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