one or two courses to get adjusted, gain confidence, and build a strong academic foundation.
BREAK UP TASKS. Spending time on schoolwork will affect your personal and family time. Don’t overwhelm yourself
by taking on too many tasks at once. If you are having trouble remembering important class notes, record class lectures and play them in your car as you run errands. Create a daily and weekly schedule of tasks to ensure that you remember deadlines.
MANAGE TIME WISELY. Arrange for others in your household to help with chores in order to relieve pressure and successfully balance your education, career, and family. Use personal time to reflect on your day. Remember to praise yourself for striving to finish college, an achievement for people of all ages.
KHALILAH KARIM, Stanford University ,Urban Studies, Junior Year
She had it all mapped out. About three years ago, Khalilah S. Karim created a five- to 10-year plan that included attending Stanford University in California, going abroad with the Peace Corps after graduation, and then returning to the states to obtain a master’s degree in public policy. It might sound like a full load but not when you have a master plan.
A great deal of her success, says the 21-year old, is a result of growing up with 10 siblings. “I’ve had all of my brothers and sisters as my confidantes. My mom and dad died when I was young, so I looked to them for guidance.”
The counsel she received from seven college graduates has paid off. Karim worked three jobs this past summer. She served as an intern for the American Civil Liberties Union on the Capital Punishment Project, which is fighting against death penalty sentences for juvenile offenders; wrote for The Washington Informer, a grassroots Washington, D.C., newspaper; and completed an independent study project on the effects of racial integration on academic performance in low-income neighborhoods. Moreover, she has taken advantage of everything Stanford has to offer. How can you do it? Follow these tips:
Travel abroad. Whenever you visit another country, you get to sample the sights and sounds of a different culture. “This is firsthand experience that you can’t get from a book,” says Carter, who traveled to Spain while in college. Traveling will also open you up to new opportunities such as volunteering at a foreign mission after leaving college.
Take a research position or conduct an independent study. In academia, you gain access to a plethora of brilliant minds. Take an interest not only in what professors are teaching but also in what they’re studying. Often, those trying to achieve tenure are required to conduct research, write papers, and become published. This may serve as an excellent opportunity to volunteer as an assistant or to ask your professor to let you handle specific research you can convert into an independent study project.
Sign up for a leadership role in an organization. Now that you’ve joined a few groups on campus, it’s time for you to play a bigger role. Run for student government president or seek