It’s 3 a.m. at the beginning of the semester and I’m already staying up super late to pull off a project due the following day. My classes the night before ended at 7 p.m. and I woke up at 7:30 a.m. the morning before to make it to my internship on time.

I was late to my first class of the day because a meeting at said internship ran over and I wasn't checking the time, leaving me with 10 minutes to make it to class when it normally takes me 30 on a good day.

I haven’t eaten anything except a protein bar and a fun-sized bag of M&Ms and I am in desperate need of groceries. I haven’t fulfilled my prescription in days because I simply don’t have the time and my normally spick-and-span apartment is a mess. I have five different groups trying to contact me at once on GroupMe.

This is the day of a double-major.

I don’t mean to scare you or be negative about it, but for the 5.5 percent of college students that pursue double-majors, this kind of schedule is a fact of life.

Needless to say, being a double-major is not for the faint of heart. What I’d liken it to is being inducted into a super-exclusive club only to find out it's filled with the human versions of that dog with a hat meme that’s sitting in a burning room saying, “This is fine.”

Even if you're not a double-major, I think pretty much all college students can relate to this meme.

That’s not to say that there aren’t positives to being a double-major because without the pluses, no one would ever do it at all. But what I would say is that I see a lot of people outside of the group largely looking only at the pluses.

So I’m here to pull back that curtain and tell you the 411 so that if you’re considering double-majoring or have always wondered what it was like, you get the full picture.

Now here are the hard parts about picking more than one field of study.

For one, you have no free time. I remember watching TV shows where the characters talked about almost having to schedule appointments for their friend and thinking it was comical. It is not. That is very much something you have to do. Long gone are the days of making tentative plans for "whenever" on a weekend.

Getting Google Invites to events is now the standard because it’s quick and convenient and you can respond in the time it takes your microwaveable meal to finish heating. Also, forget trying to meet new friends. Multi-tasking and time management are your new BFFs.

Two, you constantly feel a little bit like you're drowning. You’re floating in the ocean of assignments/meetings/classes adrift at sea, threatening to cut off your air supply. The most you can do is try to keep your head above water because beating the current is basically impossible. Once you defeat one wave, another one is coming after you. You get really good at treading water which is a valuable skill but a little worrisome on how you come about obtaining that skill.

Three, your personal relationships are going to take a toll. Sad but true. You will forget to call and not have time to be as present in someone’s life as you once were. On the plus side, you get to know exactly how strong your bond is to someone based on how steadfastly they stay by your side through this entire process, but it will be learning via the hard way. Some people who are busy due to double-majoring will also date similarly crazy-busy people just to make this part a little easier.

Four, you will probably have a crisis at some point and ask yourself why you thought this would be a good idea at all. Things I have learned in college: the critical density of the universe, what an integral is, how overdoses of vitamins can have extreme consequences and how to write a non-fluff-filled 30-page paper. Other things I’ve learned in college: what hyperventilating feels like, how to survive off of mostly pre-packaged foods for days on end and how I react when lacking sleep, fluids, and food all at the same time.

Some of these learning experiences seem to be avoidable if you just didn’t double-major. It’s a choice and you are incredibly aware of this fact. It makes you gut-check if this is really the right thing to do for yourself at five-minute intervals. Other people get great jobs and are successful without multiple degrees or taking 18 hours of classes a semester. “So why are you putting yourself through this?” is a thought you often wonder.

Five, part of your brain will revert to your middle school/teenage self and you will feel like no one truly understands you. If you think about it, 5.5 percent isn’t a lot. It’s enough to where you probably know at least one other person double-majoring but you may not be super close to that person so it feels sometimes very isolating. Furthermore, we’re so good at hiding our struggles that it is hard to accurately gauge or connect with how others are doing when they are going through the same things.

A lot of people who aren’t double-majored won’t get why you can’t go out for “just one drink” or why you were late getting back to them. They may take it personally or think that you’re being lazy, but the reality is that there are simply not enough hours in a day, and prioritizing always means that something will be at the bottom of the list. I would love to give 100 percent to everything I do, but the reality is that ain’t nobody with a double-major got time for dat.

What's actually funny about this meme is that it references the above meme about the fire. In case you forgot, Sweet Brown says, "Oh Lord Jesus, it's a fire... Ain't nobody got time for dat!" It's meme-ception.

Now that I’ve possibly made you run for the hills on this idea, there are great parts of being in two different fields. Here’s ultimately why I took on the challenge and continued to stay in my programs.

First of all, it is absolutely true that people look at you differently when you take on a second major. It holds a lot of weight and tells people something significant about you. All of the double-majors I know are incredibly driven, smart, hard-working and involved people who want to make their mark on the world, and employers, professors and parents all know that. You were already all of those wonderful things before but the difference is that now everyone perceives all those wonderful things about you before you open your mouth.

Second, you get the biggest bang for your buck, education-wise. College is an expensive investment, and if you are considering double-majoring, a big reason why is probably that you want to get the most out of your education. A certificate or a minor will get you far, but it won’t give you the same depth of knowledge that you would get from going through years of training in the program. Typically, if you double-major, you either want to do something really niche or you want more job security, and this seems like the best way to do it.

Third, like being part of any club, it gives you an immediate connection with other people who are either considering or currently double-majoring. I know exactly who is in both of my fields at my college, and despite not knowing them, I know for a fact that they are allies. Nothing will band people together like the shared struggle of Googling how much caffeine you can ingest before reaching alcohol-poisoning levels.

Fourth, if you are the type who needs to stay moving to feel like you are a productive member of society, like myself, you basically hit the jackpot. You are always doing something. While that sounds like torture for some people, what I find is that the constant stream of activity is actually preferred by a lot of double-majors.

Fifth and finally, there is simply nothing like it. You know when they say that you have to take ownership of your college experience and make it your own? This is like that except on steroids. Your appreciation and affinity for the college you spend almost all of your day in just goes through the roof. I could give walking tours of all the places where things have happened to me on campus and there’s something invaluable about those memories and those times. Even if one of the stops on your metaphorical tour is the cubicle you go to stress cry a little bit in between classes, that is YOUR crying cubicle.

If you are in the process of choosing whether you want to double-major, I want you to know that it really is a personal choice that only you can make and know if you can handle. If you decided against it, you got out easy and know that you are no less for not having double-majored. If you go through with it, I wish you endless supplies of food, love and sleep. There is no right answer, but I hope in some small way I could give you an insight into what some people call “simultaneous degrees” and to give you better clarity on what is right for you.

If you were just curious, I hope I was able to give you a little peek into the hectic life of one double-major and all that it truly entails.