Balancing work and school is not an easy task for me. My first term in college has come and gone and I've had to balance a job there, too. I want to cut one loose. Honestly, many times I thought I wanted to drop out of school and just do my job because I needed the money. For a long while I made myself believe that school was getting in the way of my job and money. Not only was I trying to do work and school, but also I was trying to have a social life. Many times I thought that there were not enough hours in the day but I wasn't managing my time right. Hanging out with friends may have been wonderful but it wasn't putting money in my pocket or knowledge in my brain. Friends would have to wait. I was back on the see-saw (跷跷板) of balancing work and school.
Scheduling and planning became the key to my success. Setting deadlines and meeting them were important to my college experience. Planning was going well and I felt ready to try and throw a social life back there. I tried to make plans with friends that didn't conflict with my deadlines. That was actually harder than I thought. So once again my social life had to be put on hold (搁置). My friends were very understanding and encouraged me to do my work. The extra motivation really proved helpful in the end. Some friends would joke that I was all work and no play but sometimes that's what has to happen to get work done.
As the last term came to an end I can say I learned a lot about college life. Planning is necessary for organization. Drawing up a list of all things I had to do at the beginning of the week and actually completing them made me feel good. Not only have I learned something new about organization, but also I acquired a new tool that I can take everywhere with me and use effectively.
