As the fall semester approaches an end, I think it’d be worthwhile to reflect on how my fall semester experience during my sophomore year differed from my fall semester experience during my freshman year. Though these two experiences are only one year apart, I think that they’re drastically contrasting, especially since the first semester at college is always the most difficult.
During my freshman year fall semester, I found myself struggling a lot with academics and maintaining a balance between my friendships and golf. Especially because golf season started the moment school started, I wasn’t close enough with the friends I made during orientation to figure out how to navigate my friendships while in season. This year, I’m much closer to my friends, and they’re equally as understanding about how busy I am when I’m in season. Most often, I could spend time with them during meals, such as lunch, so even if I didn’t get to see them for the rest of the day, I knew that I would at least get to see them once a day. Having this support system and being able to take a break from both academics and athletics to spend time with friends is important.
Furthermore, last fall semester, I didn’t have any student jobs to begin with. Later in the semester, I started this blogging job. However, this semester, I continued working in the 3 student jobs I’ve been working in since last spring semester. Juggling work in addition to schoolwork, athletics, and social life has definitely been a challenge, but I think I’ve built up stronger time-management skills that have enabled me to navigate all this. Additionally, this semester, I joined the Poetry Club e-Board to continue supporting our Words Together Volunteer Program, and I joined the Women in Finance club, so I’ve also been trying to get more involved in clubs this semester. Last fall semester, one thing I wished I had done was to get involved in clubs earlier, but it was difficult since most clubs started around the time we were at the frenziest part of the season.
Most importantly, this fall semester, I’ve learned to set boundaries and recognize when I need to take a break. I sign up for a ton of Loeb Center career development events that take place during the late evening, usually after practice. While I try to attend all these events, sometimes I’m just exhausted after a day of classes, work, and several hours of practice and I decide to take a quick break instead to recuperate my energy to finish my work. Last fall semester, I was eager to say yes to every opportunity to socialize, even when I was tired, but this semester, I recognized when I needed to be alone and recharge instead of spending energy I didn’t have. All in all, this fall semester has been much easier to navigate than the last one, and I can’t wait to see what the spring semester holds!