Time is a skill and an element of my life that helps me find structure and organization. Throughout my two years at college so far, I have struggled in my relationship with time. I have shown up late to classes, I have missed out on meals, fallen asleep with my laundry in the public dryer all night long and made many other mistakes when it comes to managing my time.
My internal clock has always been very slow, most events in my life tend to crawl. This is normally a good thing, however. It helps me gain a deeper appreciation for the meaningful experiences in my life because they last so much longer for me, it helps me stay in the moment. Coming into college with my brain working this way, I struggled a lot. College days are very busy. I had my rudimentary necessities, eating, working and sleeping, but even these normalities were infringed upon as I struggled to find the time. A large portion of my day would be dedicated to making it to class, listening to a lecture, participating in a discussion and then studying as best I could to stay on top of my classes. I had to fit everything else in between. This was the difficult part of my college experience because sometimes I hated my classes or sometimes I was far too tired to care about what my teacher was talking about for three hours straight on a Monday morning. I did my best to stay awake, to pay attention, to dedicate time towards my academics, but I often found this hard because my time in academics made it hard for me to focus on the rest of my life. College felt like it was my sole purpose, and while, yes, it was one of my priorities, it began to consume my life and my precious time.
I found a solution, however, to preserving and protecting my precious time. I adopted a skill: balance, one of the most important skills to combine with time. Focusing so much of my life, energy and time on college had created this rigidity within me, I had become so used to routine and schedule that I had forgotten to share my time and divide it into my other needs. I needed to see my friends, I needed to draw and read, I needed to go for walks and run, but college was crushing the weight scale of time that existed within my head. The balance of time that I found was not an instantaneous solution, nor do I think I have perfected it even now, but the weight scale now feels far closer to stability. I did my best to break free of routine. Instead of heading directly to the library after class to study, I went over to my friend’s dorm and watched a scary movie. Instead of mulling over a confusing assignment I went for a walk downtown with my suitemate and bought pizza. I found ways to fit in the other important things that my brain had been desperately missing.
Finding time for the important things can feel impossible when faced with the pressure to succeed, to get the best possible grades as possible so you can be successful in the real world. This success is in no way possible, however, if you don’t make time for yourself. It can be easy to be consumed and swallowed up by the challenges that college throws at you and it takes a lot of strength to admit that you need a break, but everyone’s time is precious and it is important that you get to spend it your way.
By Ryder Huseby
Ryder is going into his Junior year as a Writing and Rhetoric major at Pace University in Pleasantville, New York. Ryder is a passionate reader and enjoys going to the movie theater as often as he can.
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