My College Experience - 5 Things I Wish I Knew
Currently writing this blog 4 months post-grad and I can confirm that time in college either moves at sonic speed or crawls so slowly you mind as well be frozen in time. Here are 5 things I wish I knew before starting my college journey …
1.) Burnout is REAL (here’s how I noticed and reduced it)
For most of my college experience I was mentally and physically exhausted. I took an average of 8 classes a semester, half of which being dance and the other half science lectures/labs. Factor in rehearsals, studying, and trying to be a functional human being and you get a sufficiently burned-out gal.
My first real sign was that I was running on autopilot. Entire weeks would go by where I just wasn’t present. Going through my day became an endless checklist. So how do you stop the cycle? Step one for my Type-A friends: schedule breaks. Literally put time in your calendar to read, nap, watch tv, go outside etc. I also began to set boundaries for myself on how thin I could spread my time (more on this in point #5 below). My best tip for keeping a busy schedule and not burning out is to prioritize downtime. Rest is just as important (sometimes more so) as everything else.
2.) Saturday is the most important day of the week
Let’s break down why that is. During the week everyone falls into their relatively stable patterns. Sundays are the “getting my remaining sh*t done” day. This is usually studying, assignments, grocery shopping, etc. The Sunday scaries hit me every week. Saturday is your day. Some weeks I needed to go out with my friends and be away from responsibility for the day/night. Some Saturdays I made plans for a reset chill-day consisting of movies, takeout, and wine (an all-time favorite). And some days I split up half my day for productivity and the rest for going out. What I’m trying to say is that this day is for what you want. I found that leaving Saturday plans free on my calendar until mid-week worked best for me to decipher what I needed!
3.) There are two different types of FOMO – the real one and the one you think you should have
*FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out*
Let’s get one thing straight about FOMO in college: It’s way overhyped. Yes, there are times I chose not to go out and had some real FOMO when my friends had a great time. But for the most part you really shouldn’t worry. College is long and you soon learn that you aren’t missing anything if you don’t go out for one weekend or *gasp* an entire week!
4.) Future abroad girlies: let go of expectations for you trip
I studied abroad in Florence, Italy my junior year. COVID was still going on and I didn’t know until the week-of if the trip was even going to happen. I had weeks where we were on lockdown and couldn’t even sit down at a restaurant until the end of the semester. I was also hospitalized twice and got homesick as a result … Needless to say it was not a perfect trip by any means. But, I still wouldn’t trade it for anything. I got to experience one of my favorite cities in the world without any tourists. I became so much more independent and learned to make the best of my less-than-ideal situations. The pressure in college to have a perfect abroad experience is overwhelming. Whether you go for a semester, a summer, or a few weeks, my best advice is to release the pressure. It will be amazing and challenging – let it!
5.) You NEED academic and social boundaries
This connects back to my burnout point. I did not do this for myself until my last year of college and I wish I did it right away. Spreading yourself too thin in both academic and social sides of college is really easy to do but really difficult to get out of. Releasing some of the obligations I put on myself sometimes meant caring a little less about things – something I am not very good at. Shifting my mindset into caring less actually made me so much more efficient with my time and energy.
10/10 recommend sitting down with yourself and assessing how you are spending your time. This goes for undergrad and life after college. Just taking note of how tired you are, how present you are, and where you are placing your energy is a life-skill that goes beyond college!