So I'm half way through my freshman year at university and have realized that:
1) It's not as bad as I thought it was.
2) I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was.
The material isn't hard, it's the work load. Technically speaking, the university is expecting each person to put in about 45 hours a week for school (which is more than a normal full time job). On top of that, there's family time, time with friends, eating, sleeping, extra-curricular activities, work, and commuting time. Basically, something has to give.
What I've learned to do is combine things I need to do. For example, family time and time with friends can be combined with time scheduled for eating. Or I can do school work while eating at the same time. Needless to say, sleep was severely cut down and commuting time was used for work, sleep, or talking with friends.
University has definitely taught me how to multitask and to manage my time. Things I thought I was good at before but was clearly wrong.
These past four months, I've worked harder than I've ever worked before. Will I remember the content I've learned? No. Will I remember the experiences and soft skills? Definitely.
Being thrown into such a crazy environment has really taught me a lot about myself, life, and how I see the world. I've changed. I've grown. And I'm learning from my mistakes.
It's a long road ahead of me for the rest of my educational career, but I'm looking forward to it. This is after all what I've been so looking forward to when I was a senior in high school.
T