The Most Important Plan

Of all the things that college students have to master, the most important one, in my opinion, is how to master their time. One of my favorite things to say to students is, "Do your parents get to come home from work mid-day and watch a couple of hours of Netflix, take a nap, and play video games?" That is usually an eye-opener. Of course they don't, and neither should a student.

Their number one job is to be a college student, and the work they do happens in the heart of campus (library, academic buildings, campus resources, etc), the college student's workplace. In order to do that work, which includes everything from attending class, attending tutor sessions, meeting with study groups, reading for class, working on larger projects, doing homework assignments, and reviewing notes means that they need a consistent, reliable schedule for each day. That big block of empty hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays before the 3:00 class needs structure; otherwise those hours turn into wasted opportunity and worse, regret. This kind of schedule is called a Plan of Study (PoS), and I create one with each of my clients according to their course, work, and co-curricular schedules.

Now this doesn't mean that a student can't watch some Netflix or play video games with friends occasionally; we're all aiming for a balanced and healthy lifestyle, but knowing how to prioritize responsibilities and how to build a schedule with blocks of productive activity is an empowering process, one that usually makes a student feel much more in control and jumpstarts success.