Stress Test

I started my 3rd year of college—still at the community college—about two weeks ago. All was going well, I was enjoying my classes and getting along with my classmates, generally looking forward to what the semester had to bring. Then Wednesday morning came, the third day of the Fall 2010 semester. I was taking notes on a lecture in my anthropology class when the girl to my left turned to me, looking like she was on the verge of a breakdown, and moaned, “I don’t know if I can handle this.” She proceeded to explain that it was her first semester of college and she was taking three (count that—three) classes. She told me that she was already stressed out and didn’t know if she was going to be able to manage the work load. As a student who has almost always taken 15 credit hours or more a semester, as well as working part-time and taking on a multitude of other responsibilities outside of school, I wanted to brush off her complaints. After all, how could she be so stressed out with only three classes?

That’s when I realized, though, that every student must have their own idea of how much work they can handle and how much is too much. I’ve observed people that are taking 18 credit hours and working that somehow still manage to have an active social life—something I am hardly capable of. I asked around a bit, trying to get a general idea of how different students study and how much they can handle. My sister, it turns out, wasn’t exactly the most enthusiastic student around. I believe her exact words were, “Man, I hated school.” She recalled that she rarely studied more than an hour for a test and would always put off studying in exchange for hanging out with friends.Then there’s my mother who, at 53, is one of the hardest-working students I know. She began nursing school in her mid-40’s, and I have watched her for years as she studies harder than I knew was humanly possible. She sets up camp on our office desk, piling her books, binders, laptop, and has been known to spend entire days at the desk writing papers, doing homework and studying. She claims that she doesn’t like the stress, but I think she thrives when she’s in school—it’s just part of who she is.

I’ve had my fair share of slacking and lack of focus in college. I spent one semester at in college right after I graduated from high school, and I believe I changed my major no less than 4 times in 4 months. The “real world” was the last thing I wanted to worry about, but it was exactly what I got myself into. I took a semester off to “figure things out,” and what I figured out was that the idea of working full time at a mediocre job for the rest of my life was about as thrilling as getting my teeth pulled. So I chose my major—journalism—and returned to school for what would turn out to be a rollercoaster of a year. After all of that, I feel that I’ve found my niche in school. I study often, I’ve decided the focus of my major—digital media—and I have found the right balance of work, school, and some semblance of a social life.

Oh, and for the record: I did my best to console and encourage Breakdown Girl (as I so fondly call her) but to no avail—she has since dropped the class.

So here’s my question for you, if anyone is reading this: what’s your story? How do/did you study? How much can you handle in school?