January 2016 – The Unconventional Millennial

If you would have told me two years ago I would be working 25 hours a week, taking 13 hours of classes, playing tennis on Monday nights, playing intramural sports on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, bowling in league on Thursdays, and attending every Aggie sporting event, I would have said you are CRAZY! I’m not going to lie it’s tough at times to fit everything in and to give a 110% effort, but I have found that I work best when I am busiest. My highest GPAs have happened during the semesters that I packed all this in. I believe it made me realize how to efficiently and effectively allocate my time. I’m more productive when I know I have an hour to study as opposed to all day.

Additionally, I have gotten in a few routines to help avoid the stress of attempting to fit everything in when it just doesn’t seem possible:

1. The 5 AM Club- If you have read any business book or heard about the routines of successful business individuals you will find that the majority are a big advocate of waking up early and getting things done, “before the rest of the world is up”. I may not get up at 5 every morning, but I am up early enough to be productive before I head off to school or work since most other activities occur during the evening hours and that time is lost.

2. Hand write Class Notes- I used to type all my notes while the professor talked like most other students do. However, I found and it’s proven that if you hand write your notes you retain information better. I am a firm believer in this because now when I go to study for tests I don’t rack my brain trying to remember when we went over “all this stuff”. The information is retained much more naturally.

3. Review My Notes Every Night- I also got in habit of reading class notes when I get home from school. This has helped tremendously because when I go to study for tests I am just reviewing information. Based on my schedule of having classes twice a week and tests about every three weeks I would have reviewed notes from the first class 6 times, the second class 5 times, the third class 4 times, etc, etc. It makes studying a breeze!

4. Study Between Classes- I have 4 classes back to back on Mondays and Wednesdays, which means I have 20 minutes between each class. Given that all my classes are in the Wehner building…..some classes are even in the same classroom I don’t have far to go. Therefore, I have tried to make an effort to utilize that time to knock out homework, projects, or studying. If you think about it that’s 1 hour and 20 minutes each day, 2 hours and 40 minutes a week, and 10 hours and 40 minutes a month of either wasted or productive time…..all depending on how proactive I am 😉

Sunday Shenanigans with the Hidden Bridge Gang

Traditions Club- Bryan, TX

Coed Volleyball Team

Coed Softball Team

During high school I was blessed with the opportunity to take numerous dual credit classes starting my junior year. I took advantage of every opportunity offered through the high school as well as taking summer classes. I mean why not? High schoolers aren’t busy (as much as we like to think we were), taking classes through the junior college is wayyy cheaper than the university, and you live at home! Anyways, I ended up starting A&M with 27 hours, which basically covered the majority of my basics. So my first semester at A&M I was able to dive right into business classes which sparked my interest a little more than the thought of sitting through basic English and History classes.

In the back of my mind I knew I would graduate college a semester early and possibly a year early. The farther I got in the more apparent it was that I would in fact be graduating a year early. Most people told me to ride out college for four years, enjoy it while you can, get a masters, the real world is tough, yada, yada….and all that may be true, but for me personally it wasn’t that I was in a rush to get out it was just the way everything worked out. I came in with a year worth of classes and took a normal full load each semester, so mathematically I would complete college in 3 years….there was no special trick to it.

So here I am wrapping up my last year of college and I could not be more excited. This excitement has overshadowed the fear of entering the “real world” and helped me transition my mindset from college to building my career. I may not know exactly what I’ll be doing in a few months and truth is, it most likely won’t be what I’ll do my entire life, but I know I will have a Marketing degree from one of the best business schools in nation, a drive to use it effectively, and a toolbox full of tools to be a valuable asset to my next employer.

So yes, on paper I got a degree in three years, but technically I’ve been attending college for five. (starting in highschool!)

Month: January 2016

School, Work, Sports…It’s a Full-Time Job!

Degree in Three!