No good story ever started with “I decided to stay in and study rather than going out with friends." On the other hand, good grades never started with “I decided to go out with friends, I can study later." So how do we balance the social aspects of our college experience with our overall academic success?
Don’t read into this expecting an outright answer, because this conundrum is not simply black and white. However, there are some things you should keep in mind when making these decisions as they arise.
Obviously if you go out whenever you have an opportunity, your grades will suffer. Likewise, if you always choose to stay in your room and study, you may have a lack of friends and social experiences that attribute to our development. Think about what makes each decision unique.
If you have a paper due tomorrow, you should probably get that done. Sometimes it’s not that easy.
Do you have a test next week? Well you should not wait until the day before the test to start studying (even though some of us do that for no good reason). I also don’t think missing a day of studying for your test a week beforehand will prove to be crucial regarding the results of your test. So sure, you may have a test next week, but if it’s currently Saturday and your test is Wednesday maybe you could spare a few hours.
Where is your stress level? If you’re highly stressed out from the hell week you just finished and you have another big grade coming up in the next week, maybe you could use a break. Leaving your books for a couple hours might be a good study break. A week of tests may have fried your brain and a change of scenery could have some positive effects. Now, if your hell week is coming up and you have 4 quizzes, 3 tests, 2 essays and a partridge in a pear tree, you should study up. That’s a rough week and we all know it.
Did you just receive a bad grade? Sometimes we tend to overcompensate after poor results. If you studied 10 hours for a test and received a 60, it is natural and even common to want to study 20 hours for the next test. Just because you study for two straight days does not guarantee an 'A' on your next exam. Perhaps you can still dedicate the same amount of study time to this test as the last test. Changing how you study can be more important than how long you study. Using more resources, text books, and reviewing old quizzes may help in addition to the notes you take in class, no matter how great your notes are.
Finally, keep in mind that “going out” does not mean drinking or staying out so late that you sleep in and lose half your Sunday. You can “go out” and just see some friends, watch a movie, go to a restaurant or play a pick-up game under the lights on DiSanto Field. The point of going out is to have a good time and do something relaxing; something that leads you away from the everyday monotony of classwork.
So if you’re an extroverted party-chaser, that’s okay, but make sure you leave yourself ample time to get your work done. That’s why we’re paying schools ridiculous amounts of cash each year. If you’re an introverted video gamer that’s okay too, but remember to make new friends and experience new things for our social interactions are what allow us to grow as people.
