Mastering the College Juggle
Some people find college the most fun time, while others don’t. I found both. Being a full-time student working 20 hours a week, volunteering in a few organizations, and maintaining a social life can be difficult, but the good thing is that you can overcome it by planning. Let me say that again: PLANNING.
Academically, I have liked planning everything since the first day my professor published the syllabus on the Canvas page. I highly recommend using any type of planner. I like using Google Calendar (it is free of cost). When I got a syllabus, I started adding when each assignment was due into my calendar. I utilize this calendar as much as I can. So, I always put everything I do on that day into my calendar, including when I sleep, cook, eat, etc. I also recommend using this calendar to help you prioritize. For example, if an assignment is due tomorrow and another one is due next week, you can see that you need to do the one that is due tomorrow first.
As an international and first-generation student here, it is slightly tricky for me to juggle my many roles, including being a full-time student, blogger, Resident Assistant, volunteer, and a patient care technician and phlebotomist in the hospital, but this can be done by using some strategies. This sounds difficult for the first time, but it will ultimately work. The strategy I always use to maintain a healthy work-life balance is defining your limit; you should know what is above your limit and what you can do. I like to set a personal limit on what things should be done and how many hours I can commit to each thing per week.
Another important thing is to communicate clearly. A college student’s schedule can sometimes be unpredictable, but communicating at the front end can help tremendously. When I take on a new responsibility, I always set clear expectations. I like to communicate with the professor or supervisor whenever I need to focus on academic goals. Doing all these things and making friends is essential because we cannot live alone and you also need time to relax. I have friends, and I like to communicate with them in advance about my schedule. They’re always very understanding since we are all busy.
Now, let’s talk about on-campus jobs. I highly recommend that everyone take these opportunities. On-campus jobs not only provide some compensation but also give you a lot of experience as well. Getting an off-campus job is complicated due to a lack of experience as a student. So, in the first semester of my first year of college, I applied to a few on-campus jobs because I wanted to learn how to work professionally. Look at me now; I have no regrets about that decision.
If you’re going to get an on-campus job, I highly suggest you log in to Handshake (an orange logo with two people shaking hands) in PortalGuard and then click “Job” for the filter, and select “On-campus.” There, you will see many jobs for which you can apply. However, some jobs may require a resume as well. For resume help, you can go to the Office of Career Education, which you can also find on Handshake, or in person at Knight Hall, Suite 100, right in front of the resource pantry. Once you apply, if you are a good fit for that job, a supervisor might invite you to do an interview. It is time for you to practice, practice, practice. Please prepare for a few questions that might appear during the interview that you can find on Google or YouTube and prepare some answers in advance; you also need to prepare some questions you can ask the interviewer at the end. To prepare answers for the interview, I suggest you utilize Arcadia’s resource, the Office of Career Education; they can help you tremendously with your interview skills and how to prepare best.
However, I also have a few things to warn you about when you are trying to juggle several responsibilities. I began to do multiple things and have various roles on campus starting the summer after my freshman year. During the first semester of my sophomore year, I quickly felt overwhelmed and often exhausted. At that time, I realized that I could not give my best in some roles. This taught me the importance of prioritizing my commitments and learning to say no if something is unnecessary. Learning from all those mistakes, I now know how to spend my time based on some strategies I shared with all of you previously. I also learned to evaluate each new opportunity carefully to ensure it aligns with my personal goal and does not exhaust my schedule and mental health.
Based on my experience with all incoming first-years, I highly recommend you focus academically first; I remember during my transition from high school to college, it is pretty challenging, especially since you need to adapt to new challenges both academically and personally if you are away from home for the first time. Once you get used to that, you can begin doing extracurricular activities that align with your goals and explore another career path. Looking back at the previous few years, I have greatly improved my interpersonal skills and language proficiency. I have no regrets about all of the decisions that I made. During these past few years, even though some goals do not go as planned, I have learned that life is not all about success but also about learning from mistakes, moving on, and making sure those mistakes do not repeat themselves. These experiences also helped me with my maturity and critical thinking skills.
A few factors keep me motivated to do all of these things. First, I want to give back to the community where I grow and develop. Also, as a first-generation and international student from a resource-limited area, I want to make the most of my college experience, and I also believe that these things will help me to grow personally and professionally at Arcadia University; I see every opportunity to grow and challenge myself to become a better person. Other than that, in each role that I take on, being an RA, a blogger, an ambassador, or a volunteer, there is always one thing that aligns with my career aspirations and at least helps me develop a skill that I will need to use in the future. Additionally, I want to make a positive impact on others. Through my writing, I hope to help connect people to campus life; seeing these impacts makes me think my impact is worthwhile.
Even though balancing multiple things at one time can be challenging, the satisfaction I get from accomplishing my goals and overcoming all of those challenges keeps me motivated. Every time I complete a busy semester with an expected result, I can handle any challenges I may encounter. Along the way, I highly recommend you celebrate all these accomplishments, whether big or small. We all have our larger goals, but we should celebrate small successes. It can be going out to eat something with friends or taking a day off from everything to just watch a movie and relax. To end this blog, I want to advise my younger self about balancing college life and enjoying every process I participate in. Try to do everything to your fullest potential in every phase of your life, love your family, and make the time worth living.
