Work Hard Play Hard.

David R.

January 27, 2010 - 8:46 PM

It's inevitable: At some point during every term, the first set of midterms roll around and the stress that everyone hates begins to set in. As I have stated in earlier blogs, students can usually kind of get away with going through the motions for a few weeks. Everyone rolls out of bed, heads to class, takes a few notes and then that's it. Now, it becomes time for students to begin applying what they have learned and memorizing all of the important information that has been dispensed in class.

Being that I am now enrolled in the upper division classes for my major, as well as Allen Hall Public Relations, I have noticeably more work to get done during the day than I did when I was a freshman. Consequently the pressure is a little greater and the stress level is a little higher. I have realized that the best way to relieve stress is by cranking out work, and being stressed tends to make we work more quickly. It's a simple theory. When I don't have too much homework to do, I tend to sit around and procrastinate, knowing that I have plenty of time to do it later on. However, when I have a lot of work to do, I tend to work faster and more efficiently because I know I have a good deal of work to get done. Now that I am a little busier, I try to find things to work on that may not be due for a while so that I can get a little ahead of the game. This allows me to still have time to go out and have the fun that comes along with being a college student. A professor once told me that college is all about finding a way to balance work and fun. I strongly agree and feel that too much of one or the other could be detrimental. Someone who is working all of the time won't ever really have a social life, and will consequently never have time to relax and recuperate. At the same time, someone who is all play and no work will have a hard time attending to obligations, which will result in a poor GPA, making it difficult to find work after graduation.

Getting work done, and doing it how it is supposed to be done is a very gratifying feeling, and makes leisure time even more enjoyable. Being in college truly teaches students the meaning of being independent and finding solutions to problems with no one else's help. Being from out of state hammers home this principle even more, because even if I wanted to go see my parents, I couldn't because they are over 1,000 miles away. No college student has ever graduated without experiencing moments of stress. It is inevitable, but if you work hard, you can play hard. College is the best four years of life. Grab the bull by the horns and do as much as you can while you are here. The memories created will last a lifetime.