threefive

In this past year, i've had a hard time juts going out and just having fun. I always had the idea that i had to be studying because there's so much work to do. I'm afraid that in college, all i will do is study. is it bad to base my decisions off that?
i have good time management. i mean it could be better, but i just have this complex that i have to constantly work my ass off, even if i understand something. i'm a bit of a workaholic? it's actually a good feeling, but by doing this, i "overstudy" materials too much, and i end up doing bad on tests and not sleeping enough. i guess i'm the type of guy that actually cares about what he's learning, but also has this ocd to do things to perfection.

is it bad to just work my ass off in school and work, and not have any time to go out? it's summertime and i realized i've been missing out on the basic enjoyments of life--reading, music, etcetc.

so yeah, is it bad to go to a college that i know will force me to study 24/7 and not sleep. i dont want to go through that painful experience again, without having some fun.

lethargytm

yes its bad. my father always tells me "study hard, party hard" and i believe that. you should be able to have fun and still get good grades. i personally suffered some sleeping problems because of stress related to grades but one good night of partying cures that.

salamander

My best friend is a lot like you. He's working two jobs this summer, one full-time and one part-time. Instead of going to some fun/academic summer camp, he went to the Coast Guard Academy to get yelled at for a week. (No offense to the Coast Guard or its members, of course.) He's taking about 68146517 AP classes next year, studies like crazy for them to stay salutatorian and allows sports, mentoring middle schoolers, Quiz Bowl and God-only-knows-what-else to swallow up whatever spare time he has left. He has almost no social life and he's exhausted all the time. Sound familiar?

It's not a bad thing to want to achieve a lot, but you have to understand that it's okay to go out and have some fun, too. Find a friend who will do what I do with the aforementioned friend- basically make you come out of the house and see a movie, bowl a few rounds or just wander around town for a bit. Experiment a bit, because you probably are overstudying if you have no spare time- gradually cut back until you figure out exactly how much studying is the minimum you need to maintain the grades you want. Use the freed-up time to do whatever you please. (But for the love of God, make your priority sleeping more! If you're more well-rested, you'll probably be an even more effective and efficient worker, and have more time to yourself.)

Good luck. I know it's tough.

fizz3l

this is probably bad advice, but i used to go to bed straight after class. that's one way (and sometimes the only) to guarantee that you get enough sleep. i didn't do it all the time, though. then i would study at night, which was less distracting too. also, people in college tend to sleep late / not sleep, so i'll run into friends sometimes and we'll watch a movie or something. unfortunately, i'd go back to sleep sometime around dawn.

you could also take 3 hour naps after class -- which i did a LOT. it works better than sleeping during the day.