I am back home in Rochester for the next three days. My parents moved to Jacksonville Fla so I get the whole house to myself. I am approaching my visits home in Rochester as meditative retreats in the sense that I will spend a lot of time alone, putting my college experience into perspective. By this I mean that through the perspective of returning to my home base, I can analyze my college experiences to make insights I did not make while on campus.
1. The biggest adjustment in college is not made in the classroom. The adjustment is made in your dorm room, in the cafeteria, in the gym, and in your free time. The class load at Gustavus and I would assume most universities is more concentrated than it was in high school. Instead of spending 7 hours a day in 7 different classes, I now spend 4 hours in 4 different classes with days where I only have 1 or 2 classes. This decrease in class time gives me the power to determine how busy I am. Just like in high school, training, eating, and studying are where I put my time when I'm not in the classroom. I've had days where I spend an hour in the library on youtube watching baseball videos and subsequently that was a very "busy" day because I had to complete my homework afterwards in a tighter time window. On the contrary, I've had days where I've sat down and completed four homework assignments in 45 minutes. I've learned the amount of time you spend on homework is dependent on how long you ALLOW yourself to take. When I've told myself "you have 30 minutes to finish these two assignments" I've gotten them done in 30 minutes. When I've sat in the library for two hours bouncing between video editing and Econ, the homework takes me a long time and occasionally does not get done.
2. Spend your energy on homework wisely. Pay attention to how your professors grade homework and adjust your focus/effort level on the assignment accordingly. If the assignment is being graded on completion, give it your best effort and move on....check back on the assignment when it has been graded and you can figure out what you did wrong. I have been caught a few times trying to figure out questions for 15-20 minutes on assignments that are graded on completion. Especially if you have other work or studying to complete, it's in your best interest to give the completion assignments your best shot then move on. Save your energy for the assignments and studying that are graded on accuracy.
3. Do everything early. Do you want to get your choice of breakfast food? Go early. Do you want to get an open rack in the weight room? Go early. Do you want to sleep early? Do everything as early in the day as you can. Having more free time can be a blessing or a curse. The mid-afternoon nap is enticing, but it comes back to bite you when you have from 3-7 to finish all your homework, study, lift, and train. Especially when it comes to training, the minute you start training and moving that grogginess will fade. If you know you've got a lot of things to do, take advantage of your early afternoon and get stuff done. This leaves you time at night to wind down before bed.