With the holidays arriving, everyone can imagine that feeling of being entirely way to stuffed with food, yet we all somehow mange to eat a piece of pie or have a dish of ice cream. Sometimes, our college lives can get just as packed as our holiday stomachs. From personal experience, I have always had the need to be busy. If I wasn’t busy then I felt like I was unproductive. This semester I took on an incredible load. I was trying to handle three jobs–a clerical assistant job for 3 hours a week, my RA position, and an environmental educator assitant postion for 16 hours a week. As well, I was taking 5 academic courses, which meet for 3 hours a week and the whole 6 hours of studying that accompany each one. I also needed time to sleep, eat, and be sociable. In short, this was just WAY too much. I was a stubborn student and ignored all of the advice from those who care most about me.

I eventually had to withdraw from my co-op (the 16 hour a week job). It was too much to handle with also trying to write my senior thesis. Lesson to be learned: It’s great to be involved and be involved in more than one organization. It’s great to have jobs and take on certificate programs. Just watch how much you take on. You don’t need to stuff your plate SO high that you can’t enjoy it all.

Any questions about  this topic?! Email the iRA team. We’ll be happy to share our advice.