This fall, I accidentally overloaded my schedule. By no means did I decide to do this or want to do it.
Starting off, my classes were scheduled in an orderly fashion. One class Mon/Wed, three classes on Tues because of a lab, and two on Thurs. That left Friday open to work or enjoy life a bit. The only downside with my schedule was that my classes ended late, at 5:00 or 6:30 pm, but at least that would give me mornings to sleep or work on homework, right?
Over the summer, I started looking for jobs for the fall with a focus on bartending or serving. Looking at my schedule, bartending didn't really fit so I looked more into serving. The only problem was that my classes were smack dab in the middle of the afternoon so I would need something that opened early. There aren't many places here in Tallahassee that do, so my options were limited.
Towards the end of the summer, I received a call from the gym where I practiced with the FSU gymnastics team. I applied for this job in the spring of 2018 and never received any information about starting so I figured I wasn't getting the job. To my surprise, I did. At that point, I just wanted to make sure I had a job so I gave my limited availability and didn't think much of it.
By the time school started, I still had no idea when I was supposed to be working and I had never been trained to teach the recreational classes I would be assigned. I was also still looking into jobs as a server because I thought it would be a good experience for me and help develop my communication skills.
One day, my roommate came home and told me that there was a job opening as a server at Hotel Duval. It peaked my interest, so I decided to apply. The interview was simple and I got the job, primarily because of my availability. Starting out, it seemed like a super chill job. The downside, of course, is that I have to be there at 5:30 am and I am on my feet for the whole shift. The upside is meeting new and interesting people; I get my amount of socializing for the day.
Along with coaching recreational classes, I also wanted to coach the FSU team (Tuesday and Thursday nights) and run conditioning sessions. Finding a time where everyone can meet is damn-near impossible because everyone is busy at different times. Once I finally got my schedule for the gym (Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings), I got additional classes added on because other coaches quit last minute. I might as well live at the gym since I'm there every day anyway.
I am also President of Silver Wings, which is an organization trying to get re-recognized as a club at FSU. I need to recruit new members, organize events, and work on the recognition process which is very time-consuming.
After a month, I am struggling. I barely have time to sleep and eat because I feel like any downtime needs to be used to study and complete assignments for classes.
Moral of the story: make sure you know what you're getting yourself into before you agree to do anything.
