At the beginning of every semester, there are a lot of choices to make. There’s the obvious choice of class selection. Ideally, these have already been chosen the semester prior during early registration, but we all know that that’s not always the case. Unfortunately, we are not only figuring out how a lecture or recitation fits into our schedule. There are also the things we do after class like clubs and sports. Thankfully, Brandeis has an activity fair to remind us all that we have options. Whether it is a morning science class or a weekly meeting with the mock trial team, cheerleading, belly dancing or karate, student-life is busy. So, we might not want to, but we have to use that pesky thing most responsible people use: time management.

We are all familiar with what a schedule looks like. Since we first stared at the clock, willing it to move faster and for for the bell to ring, we have been more than aware of schedules. What makes college different from high school then? Well, for most of us, this is the first time we are on our own. We are responsible for getting our butts in seats on time, and for making time to do our laundry, and we have to make sure we get to the dining halls before they close. Managing our time means managing our lives. We are out of our parents’ house for most of the year at least.

So consider the shopping period or the activity fair, where we choose our classes for the next few months or we pick a club to be a part of for years to come. We are not just choosing something arbitrary to fill our time; we are choosing the things that we believe to be worth our time. Hopefully, we can all look at our schedule and be satisfied with what we’re choosing to do for the next few months and over the next few years we have here in college, at Brandeis.

Classes and activities are not the only parts of our days. Many also devote time to a job or volunteering. Sometimes, it just doesn’t feel like there are enough hours in the day. With homework, reading and studying aside, there’s another aspect of our lives that’s time-consuming and usually preferable to all the work: our friends. We all socialize, in one form or another. Thus, even when we are pressed for time, we don’t tend to schedule friends. We make plans for lunch, dinner or even to hang out on the weekend. We might not always think about it, but truthfully, our friends do take time.

Class, clubs, friends and work of all kinds sound like a lot to juggle, which brings up one of not-so-fun things of being responsible: prioritizing. Priorities are a major contributing factor to time management. Sometimes, we do not always have time to do things we want. Instead, we often have to do things like write a 10-page research paper rather than see a new movie with our friends. Prioritizing is just no fun. Yet it is part of that whole growing-up thing that we have to decide what is important to us and hopefully get where we want.

Time is tricky, especially in college when we want to do so much. We try to get the education we came here for, and we try to pursue our interests. We plan our four years here, which is necessary to a certain extent to graduate with our chosen major. Nonetheless, a healthy lifestyle isn’t just work. That’s what our clubs and sports are for, balance. More importantly, that is why we have friends, to rant to, to experience college life with and, with any luck, to have a little fun with. Four years is not a long time in the grand scheme of things. Consequently, we have to be conscious of what we devote that short time to.