Balancing school 5 days a week, endless homework, studying for tests, sleeping, showering and remembering to eat, trying not to get fat while trying to have a social life can almost seem impossible. How on earth are you suppose to go to school and have a life? The answer is: carefully. Before starting school I thought that since school was only 3 hours a day I would have lots of time to do other things. It took only about a week to find out that things do have to be put on hold until after you’ve finished your hours of homework or finished your group projects. It took me about a month to get into a routine where I don’t feel stressed out and felt like I had things under control.
Everyday Monday to Friday my daily routine plays out the same. Wake up, eat, gym, do homework then go to school. I commute from Langley to Surrey everyday and coming home during rush hour can take a long time. Every Saturday I work and before I go to work I do my homework for the week, so that after schools I can just write notes and find time to hangout with friends and family.
Staying organized and trying to no procrastinate everything has really helped me. I wrote out weekly planners and have a huge calendar that displays my month, color-coded to remind me of important dates and upcoming evens such as tests or group projects. As soon as we got assigned a new assignment I did it right away because I knew we would be getting more the net day. Working ahead has really helped me stay on top of things and make more time to sudy and get together for group projects. Some girls in my class don’t work at all, which I envy because working while trying to get everything done from school really makes me stressed.
Going to the gym 5 days a week has really made me feel better about myself and more willing to learn. I go every morning before class and I can let out all my stress and anger and feel more concentrated in class. Eating healthy is very hard while in this program, especially being in a mall where the food court is downstairs but bringing my own lunches to school and remembering to drink lots of water keeps the brain sharp!
It is important to remember to have “me” time. School can and will easily consume you so I like to take a night off from studying and go out, relax or sleep! I usually do this on Fridays and let out all my stress and forget about school for the night, this way when I start my homework on Saturday I feel not as consumed by the books. It may take a while to get into a routine but after being in school for so long you kind of just make your own up. Stay organized and be on top of everything so you have time to manage everything else.
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