Keeping a full plate steady
I’ve always been told that ‘your college experience is what you make of it.’ I never truly understood what that meant until this past year. I am a senior at Penn State University and I just completed my first year at the main campus, University Park. To go from a small branch campus that’s only two hours away from home to attend a large ‘typical college style’ campus that is a five-hour trip away is a big change that I had to mentally prepare myself for.
Walking into junior year, I realized that I only have two years at the main campus to experience and accomplish everything that I wanted to, which is an endless list in reality. Thankfully, time management and decision making weren’t my weaknesses, but these were two of my skills that were constantly tested. I had an unfaltering positive attitude and an ambitious drive walking into junior year, which is a big part of how I accomplished so much and still managed to keep calm throughout.
I had multiple things on my plate which included my classes, my job with Pearson, dance team, and being a director for a student organization. Other things on my schedule that didn’t occur weekly included meetings for the national honor society that I’m a part of, attending TA office hours, group projects, and social events. Personally, I like to stay busy and limit my free time because that’s what helps me sustain a productive lifestyle. With so much on my plate, here are a few tools that I use to stay organized and manage my time.
Google calendar
One of them is Google Calendar, which works best if you’re extremely active with updating it to keep up with everything that is being balanced. I not only use Google Calendar for academic scheduling and professional events, but also for social purposes, such as casual dinners with friends or a night out with the girls. This is a beneficial technique to not only plan out your day but to plan months ahead.
Stickies
Another tool that I use is the Stickies application on my MacBook. Stickies essentially are virtual post-it notes that I use for making to-do lists. I generally have four to five to-do lists that cover the tasks that I have to complete for Pearson, my student organization, school assignments, and general day-to-day life tasks.
Browser bookmarks
Lastly, I maximize the use of my bookmarks bar on my laptop browser. I make sure that all my important links and websites are easy to access and present every time I open my browser. This acts as a reminder to check my dashboard for my classes, catch up on emails, stay in the loop with work assignments, and more!
All in all, I don’t think having too much on your plate is always a bad thing because it all depends on how you are able to prioritize and manage. At the end of the day, you are in full control of your college career so if you’re putting time and energy into something you aren’t truly enjoying or passionate about, maybe you should remove it from your plate and replace it with something else.
About the author
Sanjana Saji
Sanjana Saji is a senior at Penn State University, originally from Edison, New Jersey. She is majoring in Management within the Smeal College of Business and minoring in Digital Media Trends & Analytics. She is currently a fusion dance team member and the Director of Public Relations for a student organization called Penn State Infusion. Sanjana is the Pearson Campus Ambassador for Penn State and she loves her job!
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