Making the right decisions isn’t always easy and sometimes being in college just makes it all even harder. Deciding whether to hang out with friends or do homework, deciding whether to order pizza or eat healthy, deciding whether to play video games all night or go to bed at a reasonable hour… the list just goes on and on.

Last year during my freshmen year of college, I had a LOT of free time. In fact, the amount of free time I had was pretty ridiculous in comparison to the little amount of free time I now have this year. Having so much free time last year got me accustomed to some bad habits I’m no longer able to afford and this year I’m quickly realizing just how intense college work really is. Although I love all the work I’m doing and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it all, this past couple of weeks I’ve really had multiple instances where I had to say either “no” to friends or “no” to myself and make the right decisions to benefit my grades in my classes. Although I know I made the right decisions, it’s also hard because for so long I didn’t have to choose between making the right or wrong decisions, because I had the time to do both.

Knowing you made the right decision by, for instance, doing work instead of hanging out with friends on a weekday night feels good because you completed your assignments in a timely manner, however, it also feels bad because you know you’re missing out on something else. Although sometimes you might be tempted to make the wrong decisions (and I’m not going to say occasionally you shouldn’t, because we all need breaks), we also need to remember we’re coming to college to study and to learn. We’re paying for this experience and college doesn’t pay off if you only do the bare minimum.

All in all, making the right decisions in college isn’t always easy... hell, making the right decisions, in general, is never necessarily easy, but it’s important to remember that education isn’t free and that we shouldn’t take it all for granted. Be smart and know when you have to make the right decisions.