One minute you're relaxing on the beach with friends and family, drinking ice-cold lemonade and munching on delicious barbecue. The next, you’re pulling your hair out crying, “Why did I procrastinate?!” What could be worse?  Well, not learning from your procrastination mistake and going through this cycle hundreds of more times, of course…. 

But how did we even get to that point?  Isn’t there that week called, “Syllabus Week,” where we settle in and prepare ourselves before diving in? 

First, allow me to just start off with a little story.   

I was so excited. It was my freshman year and the first week of classes were just around the corner.  I was ready to have an easy week with my new classmates and professors. I woke up the first morning of classes, put on my best first-day outfit, and set out for my very first college class. 

I thought to myself, “This will be a breeze of a week. I’m going to be able to get up, go to class, and come back and have absolutely no work…” Man, could this freshman be any more wrong?  

It was quite the rude awakening. Within seconds, my business professor told us to pull out our notebooks, read over the syllabus, and begin the first chapter of notes. I immediately thought, “What?!  Is this really happening?  Where was the infamous syllabus week?  This isn’t right!”  The truth is… It is right!  There is no syllabus week. There is only “syllabus half an hour.” It all came like a slap in the face.    

Coming into Sophomore year, I still hadn’t learned my lesson.  I came prepared for an easy first week, full of reconnecting with friends and having fun.  Much to my chagrin, it was just freshman year all over again. But ten times worse.  

Forget about reconnecting with friends or having fun. It’s all about reconnecting with textbooks and your calculator. Instead of even taking half an hour to go over syllabi for sophomore classes, we just got them before we arrived to the first day of class and had to read them over before we got there! That way, we could start the material immediately when we walked in!     

Throughout that first week, I had an epiphany: college quickly comes to a point where extreme exhaustion is an understatement, even within the first week. Don’t be disillusioned by the so-called, “Syllabus Week.”  Professors like to briefly examine what material they will be covering over the course of the first semester and then begin covering that material.        

College is stressful. It consists of the good, the bad, and the ugly.  It is filled with laughter, tears, friendships, relationships, and breakups. College is a time to learn more about yourself than you ever will. Ultimately, it is a time to take chances, have fun but most importantly, study hard because it is your platform for the future.     

If there are any lessons I have learned since being at college they are as follows: always give 110% at everything you do, no matter if it is studying, getting involved, and/or building friendships.  

Never give up. College can throw a lot at a person and can be very taxing; but in the grand scheme of things, it is such a minute detail compared to the rest of the picture you are painting of your life.  

Take breaks. If you are just studying all the time, you will not get the most out of your college career (and you will drive yourself crazy).  

Go out, have fun with your friends but always maintain priorities and stick by those.  

Most importantly, build memories that you can carry with you for the rest of your life.  After all, there's no time like the present to build your future.