"I'm sorry, I just don't have the time to do [fill in the blank]."
How many times have you heard that statement? I challenge you to evaluate it everytime you hear someone say it. By that, I mean, evaluate the person saying it.
As a student, I'm used to hearing people moan and groan to me about how they have no time anymore, what with their 40 hour work weeks and all. And, as a student, I want to hit them with the nearest blunt object every time I hear this and scream:
"You just work 40 hours a week? What do you do the rest of the time?"
Most people don't seem to realize, or at least appreciate, the situation most working students are in. Not only do many of them go to school full-time, taking as many as 17-20 credit hours (which usually ends up being anywhere from 15-25 hours of lecture a week. That's not counting lab and study time) plus working part or full-time. And, somehow, those students still find time to get "out," usually at least once a week, with their friends.
So tell me, do students have more time in a day than the rest of the human population? Of course not. So how do they manage to take up so much into their lives?
I want to say time management. I will use myself as an example, even though I'm not the best manager of time, I just happen to know my schedule pretty well. Let me take you through a "normal week" for me (during spring 2000 semester).
Monday:
7:30-8:00-Get up/hunt up breakfast/get ready for day
8:30-9:00-drive to school school
9:30-2:00-Classes
2:00-2:30-Drive to work
2:30-5:00-Work
5:00-6:00-Drive home from work
6:00-7:00-Chores/eat/change clothes
7:00-7:45-drive to dance class (non-school related)
8:00-10:00-dance class
10:00-10:45-drive home from dance class
11:30-12:00-go to sleep
Tuesday: (my easy day...)
7:00-7:30-get up..ect
8:00-8:30-drive to school
8:30-9:30-study
9:30-5:00-classes/lab
5:00-11:45-drive home/study/chores/eat/study some more
Wednesday: Pretty much the same as Monday, cept I get out of school at 12:00, go straight to work.
Thursday: Same as Tues, cept I get out at 2:00 and drive straight to work.
Friday: Same as Wednesday, with the following occuring differently after work:
6:00-6:15-eat/change
6:15-6:45-drive to fencing class (non-school)
7:00-10:00-fencing class
10:00-2:00(or later)-gaming/socializing...
I'm usually home and asleep by 4am or so...
Sat and Sun I often go out of town for family business. Or I go to a club one of those nights. I also do some catch up on house cleaning, taking care of the animals, and work in more study time. Or a go to a local ren faire, when they are going on.
The point I am trying to make is that people rarely don't have the "time" to do something, they just don't have the inclination or motivation. The average 40 hour a week person spends way too much time watching TV. I think I watch about 2 hours worth of TV a week, if I'm lucky. I don't really *know* what else these oh-so-busy people do that they don't have time or energy to take up new activities. I personally feel that most of them are lazy, unless they can give me a legitimate reason why they don't have time - like they have to coach a little league time 5 nights a week, or they work a second job, or volunteer work - or something.
College students work so very hard, and it's really annoying to have someone tell us we are slackers in light of how much time we spend working, taking notes in lectures, studying, and doing lab stuff. Of course, there are slacker college students, or ones that coast through a liberal ars degree. I must admit that most of my friends at college are like me: serious students who are majoring in science, not arts, for at least a B.S. (not B.A.). Most of them are planning on going beyond that. I stay away from the "Fine Arts", Poly Sci, Business, and Philosophy buildings as much as possible. (And the Physics building, but that's just because physics people scare me. Deeply. One of these days, I might have to prove that physisists aren't human.)
So, the next time someone asks you to do something, please, think carefully before answering...
