There's a lot that I want to say to all of you this week, but I'm not quite in a spot where I know how to say it all yet. Below is a reflection I wrote nearly two years ago as a freshman, and below that is an even shorter reflection on the reflection. I chose to share this with all of you this week because it relates to some of the things I want to share with you and what I'm struggling with going into my junior year. This is an update on my life and a warning to incoming Freshmen. Intentions are not everything; it's the way we follow through that really counts.
As a college freshman I hear all of these stories about mistakes upperclassmen made their freshman year and how even now they’re still trying to repair the damage. In these stories they judged people, slept through classes, and partied too much. But the ones that I hear over and over as they hold the most significance, are those of students who signed up for too many things and didn't know how to manage their time.
In high school I was the Jack of All Trades. I participated in student council, played varsity tennis, held office in anime club, actively participated in church, joined a book club, learned how to build bikes, tutored, played basketball and much more all while maintaining a 3.0+ GPA taking IB, AP, PSEO and honors courses. Some of my activities overlapped, often I had to leave one to go to another or I just wouldn't go to one of them. Few of these activities required any outside responsibility and if they did I let them consume a large portion of my time. It’s different in college; here they want students actively engaging both in the classroom and out. I have to spend more time studying than before and every extracurricular expects me to play a significant role, representing them even outside of meetings. Here I am expected to make an impact and to embrace my new found independence, that’s kind of hard to do when my heart is still aching from missing everyone at home and managing my time is in my own hands.
I don’t want to end up like the upperclassmen before me, slowly working to repair avoidable mistakes; and yet I don’t want to not participate in all that I am offered. I am an overly active, easily distracted, procrastinator and here I am learning to pick and choose my battles so I can more effectively manage my time.
As a soon-to-be-junior I can now say that I wasn't wrong, but I didn't really know what it meant to manage my time well, and, despite my expertise, I was unsure of how to succeed in my classes. I made a lot of those small avoidable mistakes and committed to nothing. Over the next few weeks or so I will be writing about time management, academic strategies, and advice that I would give to any incoming Freshmen. I will write to you all and I may at times address these articles directly to my sister. I'm asking you and anyone you know who may be interested about my journey, advice, or the adventure to follow along, agree or disagree, try out the advice, and share. I'm looking forward to these next few weeks.
