Sleep, social life and studying: these three activities seem like they're easy to balance. One might say they could just sleep at night, and hang out with friends while finding some time to study. But what happens when the school work starts to pile up, your friends demand more quality time and sleep doesn't sound like a priority anymore? I experimented with finding that balance each year of college, and this is what happened to me:

Freshmen year: Sleep and Study

I was a typical, nervous freshman girl living in the dorms with one roommate. I did have a great time socially - however, it was mostly on the weekends. I spent most of my time getting adjusted to fast-paced, difficult college courses, while also making sure I slept a decent amount each night. I enjoyed my schedule until I realized that I spent more time in the books than I did doing anything else. Something needed to change.

Sophomore Year: Sleep and Social Life

After having a taste of more parties and extracurricular clubs, I decided to make my sophomore year extremely fun. I thought I could handle having extreme amounts of fun while taking 17 credits, but I quickly realized that my decision to take on such a large course load was far from great.

Junior Year: Study and Social Life

This year has definitely been my busiest and best year socially and academically. With an excellent GPA and an amazing friend group, I've finally found the balance that works for me, albeit I barely get enough sleep, which is VERY unhealthy.

How do we find a balance?

As stated above, I truly have not found my own personal balance in college that is both fun and healthy. The main advice I can give from my experiences is that one should prioritize with what's important to them. Sleep is a basic human function and is absolutely necessary; therefore, it should come before the other two activities. College is all about creating new experiences and meeting new people; however, you must have solid grades in order to stay enrolled in college. I advise students to put sleep and studying first, but also take time each week to attend a social event with friends. Extracurricular clubs are also a great way to build connections if the party scene is not your favorite. Take advantage of the time you have in college to discover your interests and establish your top priorities, and the rest will fall into place.