#19 Don't be afraid to do it all

I have a full plate this semester. Actually, that's putting it lightly. I work, take 14 credit hours of class, and I'm in six different organizations. So you could say I'm pretty busy.

Here's the thing: being busy is a good thing. Although there have been multiple instances lately when I've wanted to pull my hair out, scream and go to bed until the world freezes over (it could happen), I wouldn't change a thing about my daily schedule. Yes, I wish I had the time to go to the rec as much as I want to and to actually be able to eat dinner with my friends at the house instead of alone an hour later than everyone else, but staying busy means that I'm constantly allocating my time and slowly but surely mastering those crucial time management skills.

SO many college kids don't know what to do with their free time. They have a two hour break between class and they watch Hulu or pin a million different recipes that they're never going to make. I, on the other hand, go to the student center and try my hardest to resist the temptations of social media and instead, spend my time studying or completing any work that I know that I need to get done.

The same goes for the weekends. Should you stay up reading your Econ book every Friday and Saturday night? Hell no, everyone needs to get out of the library and have some fun, but we have to remember that there are 24 hours in a day. If you're not working or volunteering or participating in some sort of activity for an organization you're in, you can spare a few hours every Saturday (and especially Sunday, everyone's favorite catch-up day) to get some school work or studying done.

My fellow Phi Mu Fraternity Executive Board members and I 

I give myself incentives. I say to myself "Niki, if you finish reading and taking notes on this Econ chapter, you can eat that mini bag of peanut butter M&Ms, or watch a youtube video. Giving yourself something to look forward to gives some sort of purpose to the tasks you're most dreading, and you feel that much more accomplished once they're over with.

Another tip: hide your phone while you're trying to get school stuff done. I do this a lot and some of my friends that go study with me notice, or just know I do it because they text me and wonder why I wasn't responding for a straight hour or two. I'm not saying you need to dig a hole for your phone at the bottom of your backpack, but throwing it in your bag's front pocket or simply putting it behind your laptop screen makes texting/tweeting/whatever the hell else you do on your phone less tempting. Out of sight, out of mind-trust me, it's true.

But back to the whole "stay busy" argument; I'm going to sound like a high school counselor by saying this, but I truly believe that students who are involved on campus do better in school, make more friends and are just happier all around. Being a part of multiple groups, or just more than one, gives you the opportunity to meet people whom you never would have gotten the opportunity to hang out with otherwise. College is all about meeting (and sometimes learning to deal with) people who are different than you. At a state school like mine, you're not going to find 30,000 white kids who are all from the same town (even though all the St. Louisians seem to make up half of this school and meet this stereotype).

I've had the privilege to meet people in the greek community, in the journalism community, and even the international student community, and I'm well-rounded because of it. I have friends who aren't the exact same as me, and I learn from them everyday. They help me become a better student and all around person, and I couldn't be more thankful for the way they've helped me get the best out of my college experience.