Did I get your attention? Has anyone ever told you that being a "college" student isn't all that hard. Yeah, some classes take more dedication and may be more rigorous than others, but overall they won't be the end of your education. Whether it be high school teachers, parents, coaches, town people, or random people that have said those words to you. Someone at some point in your life told you that you could make it through the semester because college isn't that hard. I'm here to enlighten you into the average week of a college student.
Here's the catch though:
We are not just "college" students.
We go to class and lab for around 22 hours a week and there are 168 hours in a seven day week leaving you 146 hours.
We study six hours a day and eight on the weekends because that's what is recommended, right? Well, then we have 100 hours left.
Sleep? Even though college students say they don't need it, they do. For kids our age, it is recommended that we get 8-9 hours of sleep a day so now you are left with 58 hours.
Eating? Yeah, we also need that to survive. Let's say that we spend one hour a day eating all our meals. That's seven hours a week, down to 51 hours.
That's the basic college student. We have 51 hours left to watch our favorite Netflix show and eat pizza.
Except, that's without being well-rounded, exercising, being social, having a job and having fun.
You want to apply for a job after school? Well, I hope so otherwise that is expensive "down time" after high school.
Most places that hire college students expect well-rounded students. Ones that volunteer, are involved in leadership positions, clubs, sport teams, sororities, etc.
Let's say we volunteer five hours a week down at the animal shelter and do outreach two hours on the weekend. We are now left with 44 hours.
We got nominated as the president of the acrobatic club which takes another five hours out of our week. We're down to 39 hours.
We decided to join a sorority which takes ten, sometimes more, hours out of our week. We have 29 hours left. Chose wisely.
We gained 15 pounds and need to go back to working out. That's seven hours a week. Down to 22
We are involved in three other clubs as a member. Three more hours-19.
We decided that we wanted to go to that football game on Saturday. Five more hours down-14.
Crap, we have to pay for college somehow. Tutoring for fellow students 14 hours a week-0 hours left.
Being a "college" student may be easy, but being an involved, well-rounded, college student is not. Did you think about the activities students are involved in I didn't mention? What if you are an athlete? What if you go home on the weekends to spend time with your siblings? What if you work more than 14 hours a week? What if you study more than 46 hours in a week. What if you need to go to professor office hours? What if you decide you need to sleep in? What if you just want to relax?
All of these weekly tasks take time out of your day. Time management is a key tool used with college students, but sometimes there is just enough time in the day. Just remember that the next time you say being a college student is easy, that you're prepared for the wrath of many exhausted, high strung, worn down, and mentally fatigued students.
