COLLEGE is a time when young adults are expected to take initiative on their career path. Noted as the “last phase of being a student,” there is also pressure as this is the time they are nearing the end of becoming one. Pursuing college is a remarkable phenomenon that consists of ups and downs that could contribute to an individual’s perception and attribution toward the reality of their lives.

Time Managed?

The ability to roughly calculate how much time one has, and how to make the most out of it as a college student is quite strenuous. In the bargain, we sometimes cannot help but wonder if we are really in control of our time or if time is in control of us. There are certain instances where we overlook our duty to keep track of our various responsibilities — from attending school-related activities to meeting personal needs, which may lead to the individual struggle of prioritizing what needs to be done first.

The difficulty of managing one’s schedule may indicate ineffective time management. It is kind of unrealistic to think we can do all of the things we need for each aspect of our lives simultaneously and do well. However, we can help settle presumptions and not force ourselves by constantly feeling the need to fulfill everything instantly: by being realistic in planning our schedule to complete tasks and prioritizing duties in accordance with importance and urgency. Through this, we can at least track little progress as we cross out the checklist without feeling too rushed. 

Manage Me? 

  Managing deadlines would be demanding to hold out when one is already preoccupied with work and problems, making it unable to cope with anything more. Navigating everyday life as a college student could gradually establish an overwhelming feeling; this perhaps could affect task-related processes, to which difficulty in getting started on tasks might hinder attaining productivity. Being unfocused due to dissatisfaction and coming from an unmotivated state could only lead to students avoiding and/or resisting tasks, adding to the pile of pending workload.    

At all times, we must be aware of the intensity of our emotions (anger, anxiety, fear, sadness) — as this also affects our mood and behavior. By regulating our emotions, we can effectively manage and respond to an emotional experience by controlling over one’s emotional state. Emotion regulation is first done by mindfully acknowledging and accepting one’s real emotion followed by reframing how to assess it to change one’s response (e.g., focusing on ways to feel calm to reduce intense feelings of anxiety on an incoming test). 

Get That Break!

There’s also a tendency for college students to hyper-focus on their tasks or projects to the point of burning themselves out. The time for recharging and regenerating our brain cells from having a break on tasks is just as important as the time for attending to the task needed. Having pauses in between heavy works is beneficial and necessary to refresh our brain (enhances concentration, boosts creativity, and aids to avoid getting mental and emotional exhaustion). Taking breaks in different forms may also provide relaxation and emotion regulation — factors essential to get things done efficiently. Let us normalize taking breaks and not feeling guilty about it. 

Bedan’s Perspective

THE BEDAN HERALD asked fellow Bedans how they had managed to maintain the ups and survive the downs during their college journey. They stated that it is their sense of independence and perseverance that comes with being a college student which makes them responsible enough to hold on to their dreams and goals in life despite the countless challenges. They also mentioned that facing difficulties as a college student has become more bearable because of the friendships they had formed and connections they had encountered throughout their stay in SBCA. 

Mark Klein German (IV-BSBA-FM) acknowledged the pressure in handling the responsibility that encompasses his college journey, “I felt like this would be the last time I’m going to be a student[.] Like I really felt to act right and be responsible for everything that I do.” German also added,  “I am in my final year and I will really miss my stay here.”

Julia Perello, CAS Alumni of Batch 2022 under BS Psychology, conveyed that whenever she feels overwhelmed with something such as pressure on decision making and with the amount of workload, taking a break and accomplishing things one step at a time has helped her in surviving the downs in her college journey. Perello expressed that she agrees with the thing that the older batch and some professors usually utter about being a student, “you might dislike being a student right now, but you’ll miss everything about it later.” 

Going through college involves a regular and repetitive cycle of rising and falling, anytime throughout the years in tertiary education — a crucial stage of discovering and preparing oneself for who they are about to become and what lies ahead after student life. The time will come when we will relive memories from college, look back and realize the courage we mustered up had aided us to overcome the phase, and grasp how far we’ve come as we went through the ups and downs of being a student.