Though this column is published Friday, I'm writing it Tuesday, the day before school starts. The day before the last first day of school. Ever. I'm in my undergraduate year, and who knows if I'll continue on with some more education someday.
Before most school years, I'd write about how I was nervous to head back. I was also hopeful over the summer that girls would somehow learn to wear the appropriate length of shorts (ends below your butt).
But this year I'm not nervous, (though I'm still hopeful about the shorts thing.) This year I'm pretty calm. I'm coming back to school following eight months of working two different internships and gaining valuable experience in journalism. I'm not the scared girl who entered the journalism school last year. This year, I'm pretty excited to get in there, work hard and get on with my life. Sounding awfully grown up, hey?
I do have one final reflection entering my last year. I'm sure it's something that's been harped on many, many times, but I've been really thinking hard about it lately.
Dear students: you can go to university and have a great time. You can party. You can miss class. You can stay out way too late. You can leave studying and papers until the last second and still pass with decent grades. All of this is possible.
Confused students may wonder how can this be? Parents and teachers have been preaching the dangers of such activities for your entire lives, so how can it be that all these things are possible, maybe even common?
The key, and something I've been pondering for awhile now, is finding balance. For every night you stay out until the sun rises, you're going to need to have time to make up that sleep. A person is going to have a hard time staying out every night of the week and still getting to classes and finishing assignments.
As for missing classes, again, you'll be OK. Missing one or two classes isn't going to kill you or drag your mark into the dirt. But an important thing to consider is whether or not you understand the class. If you get what's going on and you won't struggle to make up the homework or the missed course work, then skip if you need to. If you're skipping because you don't understand the material, things aren't going to improve and you might fail the class and be out a ton of money. Of course, I'm not saying everyone needs to go out and skip classes. I'm just saying it's not the end of the world.
Find the balance. In post-secondary, you're going to learn so much about yourself and what you're capable of. If you find that after a full weekend of drinking, you're unable to focus on your toughest class Monday morning, then it's time to assess what's important to you. Cut back your nights out, or switch to different nights. University is fantastic and with a balance, it's pretty easy to have a blast and get out in four years.
Tonaya Marr is probably the only person in Saskatchewan who cannot stand listening to Johnny Reid. He was on the radio the entire time she wrote this column. Ugh. E-mail Tonaya at [email protected] or send her a tweet @TonayaMarr.
