While working two jobs and going to school full-time, it’s easy to stress out about scholastics.
My weekly schedule encompasses around 50 hours of off-campus work, while also trying to keep my 16 hour school schedule in check, not to mention having a so-called “personal life.”
To cope with my workload, I’ve tried to manage my stress level by watching sports, eating fast food and never, and I mean never, working out.
So far, my carefully articulated stress relief plan has surprisingly not helped. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to spend my remaining three hours a day dieting, exercising and doing homework, but I just can’t make myself. It’s hard to get this slim 210 pound frame up and doing productive activities, and my grades have suffered from it.
I envy those who have the energy and willpower to end their four-class day with healthy productivity. Every day I plan in my head how I will get out of my three hour bio lab, head straight to Subway and then head off to do my mounds of homework.
Instead, a more realistic scenario plays out. I struggle through my lab, sprint to Taco Bell, then lie down and sleep surrounded by crumbs and paper wrappers before I head off to work.
People who can manage their time and lead a healthy lifestyle, all while having success in college, should be given an award. Oh yeah, they’re called scholarships. Maybe improving my own time management could help improve my stress levels while also improving my grades, but who has the time?
If you’re a full-time worker and student, you should be given some sort of get-out-of-stress-free card. Most don’t know what it’s like to end your six hour school day with a nine hour work night. It’s hard enough going to college, let alone holding a job at the same time and God forbid, as in my case, working two jobs.
For me, I am constantly in a state of tiredness, stress and gluttony. I have tried many times to cut down on junk food and focus on school, but these attempts have been easily foiled. It seems as though whenever I get a leg up on one aspect of my life, another suffers.
So, here is my testament to how I, and everyone else in my shoes, can get past our tired state of over-worked haze. Just get stressed. When I am stressed, I move around, which leads to some sort of productivity.
If we can channel our stress to something productive, like struggling through homework, maybe we can get through this thing called life. Or, maybe we can all just go to Taco Bell; your choice.