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Before I came to college, I had a lot of people at home tell me I could pick two of three things. Sports, academics, and a social life were the three areas of school that you could pick two of. I wasn’t a superstar so I had already ruled of the whole sports thing so I thought I was golden coming into college focusing on school and my social life. Little did I know, those things take up a lot more hours of a day than we are given.
Throughout my freshman year I heard a different version of this pick two. The three were sleep, social life, and academics. So for a year I tried to find a balance among all three. I would sleep a little during the day so I would be able to stay up and study and then I would put off studying a little bit so I could go out with my friends on the weekend. But, while I was trying my best to balance it all I was still feeling run down, and my grades were not where I wanted them to be, and I felt like I just wasn’t having as much fun as the older girls here at UNC. So I was left wondering what I was doing wrong? I couldn’t actually be expected to pick two, right?
As I approach the end of my third semester of college I think I have finally found what the true pick two is. You can pick two of these three things: mind, body, and spirit.
The mind part of this trio is a combination of your learning experience here and your sanity. Now if you go to UNC, these are typically very opposite things. But it is so important to not only enrich your mind with what we are supposed to learn here but to avoid becoming a crazy person at the same time. Tough job, I know. If I start to really work hard and study all the time I begin to lose touch with my friends, my workouts, and my shows; the things that truly make me happy.
The body is taken care of by proper exercise, a good amount of sleep, and a healthy meal plan. Well who has the time to exercise, especially during midterm season, who can actually sleep seven hours a night, also especially during midterm season, and who can afford healthy meals on a college budget/ who has the time to prepare them? Life is hard. For every extra hour of sleep I get or every hour I spend at the gym, I am losing an hour of study time.
Lastly, but most importantly is the spirit. The spirit requires enrichment from friendship and fun and positivity. This is what can really determine your overall attitude. Every movie night with cookies and good friends and every night out on Franklin equals a little less sleep and a little less studying. How are you supposed to work on your spirit when you’re trying to keep up with mind and body?
The problem with these three things is that they are so interconnected that when one starts to falter the other two can’t help but follow suit. Like when times are good, they’re really good but when they’re bad, it’s like a hurricane of your life.
So, this isn’t one of those helpful articles that teaches you how to manage college life. This is my cry for help because I am close to halfway done with my four years at Carolina and I am still barely holding my head above water. Any advice out there?