<p>I'm a second year. I'm taking 18.5 credit hours, 14 of which are pretty hard. I have 2 jobs: newspaper delivery which takes 1 hour/day, and research assistantship, to which I haven't paid much attention lately, and I'm starting to get worried. On top of that, I'm practicing ultimate frisbee with my club team as a method to relax mentally.</p>
<p>So far, I think the hardest part of all has been living with my parents. I hate staying at home for multiple reasons, and I'm determined to move out ASAP! So here's my problem.</p>
<p>At the beginning of the semester, I started out very strong. Now, I've become a couch potato. I'm just not putting in the effort I need in order to achieve my goals this semester. I have good friends to do homework with, and I enjoy playing ultimate with my teammates. But I spend most of my time on the weekends either at the library or at home. Other than the fact that it has been extremely hard to make close friends, I don't know what could be bringing me down. I think that in order to get back in the game, I need to get happier, go out more, and maybe meet some girls.</p>
<p>I just need to be able to focus again. What's the best piece of wisdom you can give me?</p>
<p>You have too much on your plate. You need to off-load a few items. The human brain can only go in so many different directions at once before it rebels.</p>
<p>I can see why I should take it easy with my schedule. Here’s my thinking. I’m not working my hardest just to put something impressive on my grad school application essay. I’m doing this because after this semester, it’s a cake walk. Not only will I graduate a semester early and save money, I will have time to fully commit to ultimate frisbee, research, and social life. More importantly, I will have more time to work on my GRE, relationship to my professors, etc. My plan is to go 100% this semester, get a 4.0, and prove myself. After that, I’m taking it easy.</p>
<p>*I’m a second year. I’m taking 18.5 credit hours, 14 of which are pretty hard. I have 2 jobs: newspaper delivery which takes 1 hour/day, and research assistantship, *</p>
<p>I only had to read the first 2 sentences…</p>
<p>14 hard credits out of 18.5 is overdoing it. Adding 2 jobs makes it even worse.</p>
<p>Diagnosis…Burning the candle at both ends with hot plate in the middle.</p>
<p>Rx…try to finish this semester the best you can since you’re about halfway thru. Maybe drop the paper route. Then after finals…go meet some girls!</p>
<p>So if you know all of these things and you realize why you’re doing them, why aren’t you motivated? Your plan to save money, graduate early, and be able to do all the fun things you want to do should be motivation.</p>
<p>I mean, you can get through this, it’s not so difficult. You just gotta fix your attitude from a ‘meh I don’t know if I really want to do this anymore’ or whatever your present attitude may be to one that says ‘screw it, I’m going to kill this semester in the face’. That’s all it really takes. It’s worked for me.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to diminish your problem but really. If it’s not working for you change it up. You are probably taking one class too many. Most everyone has a slump somewhere after freshman year and before senior year. We can’t tell you what to do, only you can figure out what is nagging you. One piece of advice is to get off the couch and get out. Spend your weekends hanging out on campus and not at home. Check out the newspaper or the radio station or somewhere other than the library to study. Change your scenery.</p>