The general Life of a College student
Bewtween juggling classes, homework, paying the bills, and having a social life the overall college experience can be something only summed up to the word stressful. In fact it is between classes that I found the time to write this Hub. Not at all an easy task to do when you have the wait of homework and essays resting on your shoulders and your running out of time to procrastinate.
Most classes last anywhere from an hour to two depending on the course. For example the french class I am taking lasts up to two hours and fifteen minutes if you want to get specific. In between classes I either work on my homework assigned for the next day or try to find a nice quiet spot to unwind a little before the next round of class participation and monotone teaches that could put even the most hyperactive child to sleep in under five minutes. I will admit there are a few good teachers but they are few and far between.
Having a social life is one of the hardest things to maintain during your college stage of life. If you are in a relationship with someone between homework and studying there will be hardly any time to see them. This of course puts strain on the relationship which as we all know eventually leads to hardships, fights, and god forbid possible seperation from the current love of your life. I am speaking from experience on this note. I find it best to avoid getting romantically involved during the semesters and just focus on school. That though is totally my choice, and let me add that I think that avoiding a relationship helps eliminate a small portion of the stress that you might befall. Other people though find that being in a relationship with someone during these hard times is quite refreshing and may even elliviate some of the stress. That is when the saying, "what ever floats your boat," arises. I say more power to you if you can juggle a relationship and school. GO YOU!!
On another note, having enough funds to make it through the semester without dying of starvation or endind up on the street is an exseptionally hard task. Most young college students survive on the very cliche Ramen Diet. Not something I would recomend. Eventually you grow tired of the sodium filled ramen, no matter how many times you change the flavors stocking your cupboards, and try to find another way to keep yourself alive. Thus arises the need for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Once you manage to sustain yourself with nutrition, at least enough to continue living, the issue of rent arises. A cheep and still hygienically healthy place to live is sometimes hard to come by. We have all heard of the term, "Roach Motel." Let me tell you this. They exist. If the rent is low and the utilities are payed in that rent I highly recommend looking at the apartment before you sign the lease.
Now finding a part time job is somewhat easier in my opinion. A lot of colleges have a program called the Work Study Program. This is where the school pays you to work on the campus doing jobs that no one else wants to do. An example of these tedious jobs is file pushing. Who wants to alphabetize file after file after file etcetera etcetera etcetera. I know I don't. As a college student though you may have little choice. One good thing about this program though is that you are permitted to work around your schedule of classes. So even though the work maybe the most boring thing you can imagine it maybe the most convenient thing you can do.
Don't let all of this discourage you though from persuing a higher education. After all of the budgetting, boardum, rushing, studying, stress, and loneliness things are bound to get better. Or at least that is what we tell ourselves to get us through the program. Some people though are not meant to go through anything higher than highschool. So what I recomend is to test the waters, but bring a life vest just in case.
