An organized chaos

I do believe that I've got this Centre life down pat now. When I wake up in the morning to wash up, if I use the second sink I know that I have to turn the faucet knob a certain odd way in order to shut it off when I'm done. When I come in the back entrance of my dorm Yerkes, I know that after I swipe my card I have to push the door in, then pull to open it. My roommate, Steph, and I have grown completely comfortable with each other now (haha, I used to call her Stephanie). I know that if class starts at 9:10 a.m., I don't have to leave until 8:55 a.m. to stop by Cowan for some breakfast and still make it to class on time. And the list just goes on and on. It's all become second-nature now.

Academics and extracurricular activities still throw their curve balls at me though. After midterms a few weeks ago, and all the stress they caused, I learned that I've got to put extra effort into all my studies than I previously had. I remember thinking, "Man, I wish I could just start all over." It's not like I brushed my studies off or anything; I'm definitely the type that likes to be prepared for class, stay ahead, and get the A+. It's just that with all the extracurricular activities that I'm involved in, I haven't been very strict on making my studies my absolute #1 priority which deserve most of my attention.

"How do you do it?" So many people ask me this when they hear what my typical day (of classes and activities) consists of. And really, sometimes I don't even know! As I said in the last entry, being busy with all my activities is just the way I seem to function.

But yes, it is quite stressful at times trying to balance them all, especially at a place like Centre. I've gotten real discouraged at times too. But like today for instance, I just write down everything I have to get done, sometimes putting them all in time slots to be completed by, and then just check off everything as it gets done. Making the time slots really helps—that way I don't spend too much or too little time on a certain subject or activity.

Everyday is usually kinda crazy for me, but it's like an organized chaos. I don't really know how I'm going to get everything done, and sometimes I'll be there at the last minute getting something done or turned in, but it all seems to work out in the end.