Everyday we wake up, take a shower, tune into depressing news, drink our cup of coffee while eating breakfast, and rush right out of the house trying to get to work on time.

What is life really all about? As I sit and watch Monsters Inc. on ABC 7, I am wondering that very question. Life is not all that its cracked up to be.

It’s hard, stressful, happy and sad, long and short. Life is a variety of things.

Take the time to enjoy it. Visit family and friends. Get out and just take a personal day. It’s not all about work. It’s not all about “hustling for money.” Life needs to be lived and not planned. Put away your pda’s and blackberries. Just relax.

Never forget that life is what YOU make of it!

So the first week of school came and went. You have already maxed out your credit cards with the expensive textbooks you bought for class. You sat in on the first session of every class and by now should have a general idea of the flow of each class. I know how you must feel.

Personally, I am taking my last 18 credits, six classes and then I graduate in May. I’ve pretty much piled it all on myself and my plate is overflowing. With a semester full of electives, I have to familiarize myself with these foreign subjects after taking journalism for the last two years.  Business has never been my strong suit. Quite frankly, math and I never got along. We never played nice. Don’t get me started on the sciences, although I am surprised that I did pretty well in the courses I was forced to take while attending Brooklyn College.

In my last semester, I decided to take Personal Finance, to educate myself with the proper tools to better manage my finances.  As a college student, I always got the impression that these four years would be a time of exploration and self-discovery. It would be during those four years that I would discover my passion for life, my career path, and for some of you your life partners. So far, I can say that I have played along.

I remember when I was in high school and I wanted to be a physical therapist, a language translator, a graphic designer, etc. I went from one extreme to another and then my now ex-boyfriend suggested that I tap into my strong writing skills and look into journalism. Who would’ve thought that he had a point? I would like to think that I have done pretty well in my chosen field. I love it. There is just so much potential with journalism. 

Whether you are a freshman or not, there are just some classes that you will take where it was if the professor was speaking a foreign language. I’ve been there and done that. What can you really do if you are caught in that position? Well, why not find a study buddy? Maybe you can even form a study group? It beats failing the class and in some cases, having to retake the course.

With a study buddy, you have some to dependon and hopefully, help you navigate through the foreign coursework and text. If you’re a risk taker, I bet you will just sit in every class baffled by what is going on around you. What sense does it make to go through a 15-week semester without learning one bit of information? Who are you hurting the most? It is certainly not your professor. In case you don’t know the answer, you’d be hurting yourself. 

Reality check! If you didn’t understand the course throughout the semester, you’re not going to get a fluke of genius in time for finals week. Why take the chance? Don’t waste your time or money just sitting around. Find a classmate and study together. Besides, who wants an “F” on their college transcript. These days, we have to think about graduate school. Use your head and get a studybuddy.

 previously published in the Brooklyn College Kingsman 2/5/07