Being a third year in college is and can be very difficult. I have seen many people in my circle dropping out from first years through third years. College truly is not for everyone. You have to have a lot of focus and be comfortable in yourself with handling stress down to time management and the ability to wake up at the crack of dawn for classes you may not even want to go to.

In my first year English class the professor told us that 70-90% of freshman students do not make it to graduation. It gets more stressful every year with increasingly more responsibilities outside of school. Eventually most students have to learn to figure out how to balance a full or part time job, paying bills, hanging out with friends going to class and doing homework while at the same time planning and preparing for what they will be doing after graduation.

I am currently looking for a part time job so I can pay for graduate school applications and student loans. Eventually I am going to have to buy a car so I can move closer to my graduate school and/or future full time job. I have mentioned that my goal was to move to Knoxville Tennessee for their anthropology program but now that I am forced to consider life goals, I have made a bucket list of things I want to do after graduation. I have always wanted to move to California so that is now my new goal for graduate school.

To make this happen I am going to have to work harder in class and pass 3 courses with at least B's to bring my GPA up to minimum standard. I am going to have to pass the rest of my courses with A's to bring my GPA up to a graduate school level. Being a semester behind I am having to take more class each upcoming semester to reach graduation date.

Now here comes the problem. I am poor, under poverty, "how am I not homeless" broke. Barely having $5 to my name. I am going to have to find a summer job and finish school with a part time job. This means long nights, no friends, and probably no sleep. So how do I manage to balance everything? Social media is a God-sent for college students. I can message friends while I am writing research papers and make friends in class and plan next semester courses around each other's courses. I just found out today that someone I get along with in one of my classes are going to have three classes with me in the fall.

An interesting thing about college students seems to be our way of being so exhausted at times that we will and can sleep anywhere and everywhere. Some of us have evolved to the point of sleeping with their eyes open or going past the point of no return and no longer need sleep for long periods of time.

How do I manage to keep my sanity? Glad you asked! I have none. Purposely spending hundreds of thousands of dollars you don't have for an additional 4-10 years of non-mandatory high school? SIGN ME UP! I learned a lot about myself the past four years and I appreciate the discovery. I am living live goals that are important to me and only me. College is mainly quick decision making. Should I eat pizza for the thousandth time or save my money for summer courses? Can I go to bed now and still wake up with enough time to write that research paper due tomorrow morning? Should I use Red Bull instead of water for my coffee? These are real questions college students have asked. Our life is spent hoping we made the right choice and hoping we can survive or laugh off the outcome in the future.

Lastly, my advice on new and upcoming college students is to use the time to cross off your list. Have a random day to learn what you like and who you want to be as a person in the future. College take a ton of hard work and dedication. Don't put too much pressure on yourself and try to remain goal-oriented. You are spending too much time and money, don't waste doing things you can't handle or you will fall. There's going to be a lot of times when you just want to give up so gripe and whine as much as you want as long as you are still following your goals and are not harming yourself physically or mentally in the process.