Torch Confessions: “A full plate”

I may have been a tad over-ambitious.

I had always imagined finishing off my last semester of college easily—maybe only 12 credits and no Friday classes. I had heard of other seniors doing it, sometimes even managing to save cultural enrichment classes, or the “fun” classes for the end.

When I scheduled my final semester of classes last fall, I was slapped in the face with my own reality. A Friday-free semester was off the table and to my surprise, my credits added up to 17, the most I’d ever signed up for. This is in addition to an internship and a part-time job.

“OK, this will be fine,” I thought to myself, with my beginning-of-the-semester motivation still intact. “I’ll just tough it out and finish strong.”  In retrospect, this self-convincing was ridiculous and irresponsible.

Now that only two weeks of the semester remain before finals, I laugh as I look back and see how naïve I was to think the last semester of college would be anything but terribly grueling.  What was I thinking?

A never-ending plethora of assignments, quizzes, exams and studying is close to impossible when you have chronic senioritis and a severe I-wanna-get-out-of-Big-Rapids disorder, on top of other off-campus responsibilities.

I simply put too much on my plate this semester, nearly setting myself up for failure.

When the time comes to schedule your last semester of college, I’d recommend not doing what I did.

Over-packing your plate only ensures that something will be sacrificed, whether it be a grade in a class, your job, or your mental and physical health.

If a schedule seems daunting or impossible, it probably is.