Surviving and Thriving: The Work-Life Grindset and How Try to Survive It
We can make it through college, I promise.
BY ABBY VELA WITH ART BY NATALIE WILLIAMS
Oh, work-life balance, you elude me so. How do I keep myself afloat? Honestly, I’m not too sure. I’ve been thinking about my schedule a lot lately and why I haven’t had a mental breakdown yet. Although I have all of the makings for one, I’m still here and (generally) mentally stable.
I’m preaching to the choir, but college students are expected to do so much more than we’re qualified for. 40 hours of school work? Absolutely. Multiple resume-boosting extracurriculars and leadership positions? Basically required. A campus job so you can give that money right back to the U? Of course! And why not take up a second or third? The University’s understaffed, and we need the money.
All this sounds fair, right? Of course not, but that’s our lives. How do we survive it?
I have two jobs on campus: one as a managing editor for CLA and another as a peer advisor in the MLK program. I took these on knowing it would be a lot, but I didn’t quite realize how much it would be. Starting office work at 7:45 am and staying up late editing stories gets old quick. What has kept my head above water so far is thinking about what I’m doing. I’m doing things I’m passionate about: writing and social justice. I’m making a positive impact on the lives of others, amplifying voices. It’s fulfilling, even if it means my sleep schedule is that of an infant who can’t sleep through the night.
My advice to those of us who are struggling right now: find that tinge of passion. It’s not a fix-all; I don’t mean it to be. We’re still cogs in the capitalist machine of higher-ed, but thinking about the big picture can make those 8 am’s a little less painful. We deserve to be here. We've got this.