Referring back to my About Me, here’s a more in-depth crash course of my undergrad and graduate college career (the crux of what I’m about to mention happened in my last two undergrad years and grad school).
At Arizona, I majored in Sociology and double minored in Leadership Studies in Business and in Sport Management in the Business College. During my last two years at Arizona, I also, aside from being a full time student school,:
- Had a semi part time job
- Visited & applied to grad schools
- Studied for & took the GRE/GMAT
- Interned for
- Arizona hockey team
- Arizona baseball team
- Tucson FC Soccer
- Was a member of the Sports Marketing Association in which I had to work other sporting events on campus and periodically drive up to Phoenix for special events with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Coyotes
At CSU Long Beach, I extended one of my minors from UA (Sport Management). During my time there, I:
- Had class for 4 hours 1-3 times a week (45 minute commute each way)
- Managed all group projects amongst my jobs and internships + conflicting classmate schedules
- Worked for the LA Kings (1.5hr commute to, 2hr commute home) not to mention all the game nights at Staples Center
- Interned for USC football, UCLA football, and Dodgers Single A team in Rancho Cucamonga
- Served as Assistant Director at MPSF for Division 1 Swim & Diving Championships
- Worked for the LA Dodgers after completing one season with their minor league team (Uhm.. so the baseball season is very long and extensive; 81 home games + weekly off site events in the heat y’all)
- Sometimes the Kings and Dodgers games overlapped so I’d go from the Kings office to Staples Center to work a game then drive over to Dodger Stadium to work that game then drove home only having to drive back out to Long Beach for class the next day (ughhhhhh)
So how did I do ALL of that while still managing to:
- Gym everyday for at least 1.5-2 hours
- Watch all my favorite TV shows AKA RHOOC & RHOBH episodes (so crucial)
- Hang out with my friends
- Visit home on the weekends (during undergrad)
- Go on trips or music festivals on the weekends
TIME MANAGEMENT, A LOT OF DISCIPLINE, AND MY ERIN CONDREN PLANNER
This is not a sponsored post by Erin Condren BTW, she just literally saved my undergrad and graduate career.
TIME MANAGEMENT & MY ERIN CONDREN LIFE PLANNER:
My Erin Condren life planner saved my life. I’m insanely OCD with planning out my weeks. Every week, on Sunday evening, I would sit down and spend 30 minutes planning out the week (what days I would do what assignments, breaking up projects by sections, setting time aside to study). Then, every evening in bed, I’d write out in my phone a full hour-to-hour schedule of tomorrow’s day:
Example of an undergraduate day:
8:00 – wake up
8:15 – 8:45 – Bible reading/devotion
9:00 – 10:15 – class
10:30 – 11:45 – class
12:00 – 1:00 – lunch/break
1:00 – 2:15 – class
2:30 – 4:30 – gym
4:45 – 6:30 – homework
6:30 – 7:00 – dinner
7:00 – 9:00 – homework, watch my shows, laundry
9:00 – 9:15 – plan out tomorrow
9:15 – 10:00 – finish whatever I didn’t finish earlier in the day
10:30 – go to bed
Every time I’d finish something, I’d go in my phone and delete it in my list. For me, crossing things off my list is such a gratifying feeling so it was like a reward to me every time (I know, I’m an organized geek).
Also, there’s no point in writing up a graduate school day because my days were ALL over the place, but again, planning out your days on Sunday and the evenings before.. CRUCIAL.
DISCIPLINE:
If you don’t have any self-discipline, you’re SOL and going to make life a lot harder for yourself. For me, I am good at self-discipline simply because I like to get stuff done. I did sometimes procrastinate on assignments and projects if I was lazy, however, if I knew I was going out of town or back home for the weekend, I’d make sure I finish everything beforehand. There’s nothing worse getting back into town at 10pm knowing you still have to finish an assignment due at midnight.
Also, especially during my last two years at Arizona with all my internships, I had to sort out my priorities and make sacrifices. I did have to sacrifice nights going out (we were going out Thursday-Saturday every weekend) but I also reminded myself that I’m not missing out on much. It really was the same thing every weekend and I had to keep my focus on getting into grad school and building my resume. After awhile, it wasn’t difficult for me to make sacrifices because getting into grad school was way more important to me than going out. I still went out but maybe once a weekend if that. I just kinda got over it altogether too since it was already my 5th year and I had partied myself out by the time mid-Senior year rolled around!
FORESIGHT & SEEING YOUR GOALS IN REAL TIME:
The bottom line is to always look ahead and know what’s important; that sacrifices will be made. Your driving factor of being okay with making sacrifices is imagining you reaching that goal you want X months down the line. Now that I look back, yes I did wish I went out a little more simply so that I could have solidified more college friendships, BUT overall, I’m happy I busted my butt the last two years. I still keep in touch with a solid 2 handfuls of college friends, whom who have all played some type of role in my career moving forward. So really, I’m not bad about it – quality over quantity! There’s no point in wasting time trying to force a friendship – that’s just a waste of your own time. That was most essential for my path in where I wanted to get. Ultimately, I was ahead of the pack instead of the student struggling to figure out their next step. Don’t let FOMO get the best of you. I promise you that those nights out will in 3 years time be totally nothing. They all blend together and I wouldn’t be any different if I had gone out 10 more times.