We just started school and already, we have so much to do. This situation is two things: daunting, yes, but exhilarating when one looks back and sees exactly what one has been able to accomplish. I’m going to be honest. In high school, I basically did one thing: I read. That’s it. It was expected and therefore all structures were formulated in support of this singular goal. From 5am in the morning until 9pm at night, we ate, spoke and even slept academics. We did little outside of class save for the compulsory twice a week PE classes and the ever so lovely (mandatory) chapel periods three mornings a week. So coming to Whitman was a BIG change. Whitties don’t do just one thing. In fact you would be hard pressed to find one focused solely on a certain activity…and we like that. Unlike my high school days, no one studies day and night. We definitely burn the midnight oil on occasion but this is only because we’ve been doing a vast array of other equally wonderful things during the day. Ankeny Field, especially now in the Fall, is constantly full of Frisbee players, the Lacrosse team and Flag football (I call it Touch Rugby but the name seems not to have stuck with the rest of the population). I’m a WEB (Whitman Events Board) Director and we have so many events already planned out (The Head and the Heart just played at Reid on Thursday!). I’m in Wakilisha Afrika club and taking five awesome classes this semester. How will I manage all this? The answer is here below.
There’s this nifty tool available at the Academic Resource Centre (more popularly known as ‘The Arc’). It’s a long timetable including all 7 days of the week and divided into hourly time slots, no surprise here; it’s called the Weekly Planner. If I fill in all of my classes and other compulsories, I am able to visually locate where I have free time and mold my extra-curricular activities into these slots. That’s what I did for the first couple of semesters…and then Google happened. I can do the exact same thing on Google calendar and with colors too! The gist is to just manage your time well and neither your academics nor your non-academic life need suffer. Professors and their office hours are going to be a huge help in terms of adjusting to the expectations at Whitman. If one is willing to invest a lot of time and energy and not be afraid to ask for help, you will grow and succeed at Whitman. Speaking of Professors’ Office hours, I have to run to one of those right now!
Tschüss!
laetitiahmagarawhitman 