When selecting your class schedule, I am sure you have certain priorities in mind. Whether that be the time of day that you have to wake up or the “Rate My Professor” scores online. Everyone has a system that works for them. However, I have noticed a trend among my fellow students.
No one likes to wake up early. I have never once heard someone say “I have an 8 a.m. tomorrow morning!” with even a slight tone of excitement. But hear me out — I like rolling around in my warm cocoon of a twin XL bed while it’s snowing outside my dorm as much as anyone — but as someone who has had to wake up early their entire life, the benefits of 8 a.m. classes outweigh the downsides by a mile.
First of all, you have already done it so many times for high school, so no, it is not as “impossible” as many people write it off as.
There is a reason for these early start times. It can be summed up in one word — time. Time is your most valuable resource. What you invest it in speaks volumes about you.
If you are like me, you have a pretty good idea of what your interests are. I am majoring in the College of Communication (COM) with a minor in innovation & entrepreneurship. I enjoy being creative and collaborating with others. I love the idea of a constantly evolving and changing world, hence my minor. Waking up at 8 a.m. and finishing school by 12 p.m. on most days of the week allows for huge windows of creativity.
There is often a stigma associated with COM students — it is not in the highly respected and heavily funded realm of education like STEM. It is creativity, communication and storytelling, and unfortunately, many people do not listen to you if you are not composed of numbers.
As a COM student who takes early classes, I am able to contribute to multiple BUTV10 shows following news, politics, the local community and so many other important and relevant issues happening in the world now. I am able to publish weekly, share my opinion and grow as a writer with the help of a huge network of like-minded and driven people.
Waking up early for my 8 a.m. classes directly helps my ability to take full advantage of Boston University’s world-renowned COM department. It makes me rich with the currency of time, and as an aspiring entrepreneur preparing to enter the workforce, this time is priceless. Making your days longer allows you to chase your dreams further.
Another tool that I use to organize my day and relieve stress is Google Calendar. I learned this helpful tool from my dad, who is constantly collaborating with others and running from meeting to meeting. As a sophomore, I am starting to get a taste of what this lifestyle is like.
It is easy to get overwhelmed with your responsibilities and daily tasks. I feel like a full-time adult with over 3,000 miles separating me from my family, yet, on paper, I am a full-time student. As I previously said, your day boils down to minutes and how you spend them. Updating your Google Calendar is an act that causes you to weigh the importance of every entry in your calendar. As a visual learner, it helped me figure out what to keep, what to cut and how to arrange it all to make a schedule that works for me.
Using the combination of 8 a.m. classes to maximize daylight and Google Calendar to keep me organized is my work-in-progress blueprint for time management. In all honesty, I am still trying to refine and improve how I spend my time, but these two methods are a good starting point for people who want to improve the efficiency of their days and relieve stress from their life.
