College can be extremely stressful. You can easily find yourself running from thing to thing. Your responsibilities are everywhere. How can any sane individual find time to finish it all? Personally, I work three jobs and sport a full-time course load. I am a resident assistant full time and a Supplemental Learning Assistant (SLA) for English during the week. As aforementioned, I also have a full course load, friends, family, and me time to which I need to attend. Many people don't necessarily understand just how stressful everything can become. Hopefully, I can pass on a few tips and tricks for surviving the semester.

1. Clearly understand your priorities

The concept of priorities is loosely used these days. Whether this includes social time to strict studying schedules, any overwhelmed individual needs to organize and outline their goals. It may seem cliche, but having realistic goals are essential to balancing your life. If you take on too much at once, you will only end up hurting yourself and causing undue stress and anxiety.

2. Understand your limits

With priorities also come limitations. This is your life. You need to know yourself. Part of knowing yourself also means know when to say no. I've never been great at this aspect. As an ambitious individual, I always end up taking on too many responsibilities. We need to allow ourselves to breathe. If you pack each and every moment with a different commitment, then you really end up shooting yourself in the foot. Spreading yourself thin is a slippery slope. Pick a few activities that you can feasibly handle. This way you can give each responsibility your best effort.

3. Don't do things to impress or please others

If you find yourself constantly engaged in commitments for the sole purpose of pleasing others, then you might want to refer to number one. Life is too short to live for anyone else. You need to take time for yourself and figure out what you want. You need to do what you need to do. Don't let others take advantage of the time you could be using to make your dreams happen. Take life by the reins and please yourself for once.

I hope that some of these tips might help you in your endeavors. My last bit of advice for you is to look within yourself and figure out how much you can take. You don't want this year to be stressful, and, sometimes, having a little free time can be a good thing.