by Jackson PLA
How to juggle 40 hours of Science Formal construction, 10-20 hours of Cabaret rehearsal a week and 4th year engineering.
1. When you have no time after school, FIND it during the day.
This here, dear readers, is my timetable. I am a fourth year Engineering student, so unlike you Arts students, it is a lot of hours.
Usually 4 nights out of the week I have after school rehearsal for the musical Cabaret from at least 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. This is not including a couple other extracurricular things I do.
Figure 1: You can call me “the Beast“ if you like.
So when do I do my work?
The secret, dear readers, is in those one hour slots in your timetable.
Figure 2: You see all those little hour slots in my timetable?
These slots are gold. I grab some friends after class and work together on an assignment, a lab, reviewing the lecture just learned—anything that produces results.
I tell myself:
“Jackson, work hard until the next lecture.”
Or:
”Work hard after school until rehearsal starts because that’s when the fun begins.”
So I work hard. I don’t go home during those hours, I don’t aimlessly surf the net, I don’t dilly-dally my lunchtime. I work hard in those hours because it means by the time I get home I will have so much more free time to myself and no school stress.
Figure 3: Awesome possum
2. Talk to your teachers!
Dear readers, I make it a point of mine to meet my profs. Shake hands, say hello, smile. That connection goes a long way.
For one, it’s nice when you’re no longer just a number and is a face to a name. For the prof, it means you’re putting effort into knowing the prof and the material being taught. If I end up with a 79 in a course, I know I can talk to the prof that I know so that he can bump me up to an 80. Score!
If they declare office hours, the profs are literally sitting in their offices waiting for you to approach them. The neglected ones end up playing Solitaire until someone shows up.
Figure 4: So bored right now.
They write great reference letters too. And occasionally, if they’re really awesome, they invite you over for dinner. J
Figure 5: Dinner with Professor Toh at the National University of Singapore
Those are my secrets. Keep them safe, dear readers, and go forth. Be awesome at time-management!
