High school classes are nothing compared with college courses; I had to learn that the hard way. I thought the six hours I spent in high school five days a week were difficult until I took 17 credit hours my first semester in college. My high school was set up with a block schedule, meaning we had four classes (blocks) a day, each spanning an hour and a half. As a major in Art and Design during my freshman year, I was required to take two studio courses each semester, each course lasting three hours. This blew high school right out of the water. My roommate at the time, a student in Media, was only taking 14 credit hours, and it always seemed like she never had class — hers only lasted 50 minutes. I was jealous and considering changing my major to something less time consuming.

Every semester I have been at the University, I have taken either 17 or 18 credit hours. I had a rough time deciding if I wanted to move from FAA to a different college, so I began taking many different courses just in case. This even meant taking 11 straight hours of classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, with only 10 or 20 minute breaks between them during my first semester sophomore year. Even after changing majors (though I’m still within the Art and Design Building’s walls), I decided I wanted to pick up two minors. A heavy workload is not for everyone; I know many students who take the bare minimum of 12 credit hours, and I know others who are trying to get classes out of the way by taking 22 hours between here and Parkland. Twenty-two credit hours are definitely not for me.

Heavy course loads prevent students from getting the maximum time to study or even having social lives. It is very hard to balance school and extracurricular activities if you don’t have a great sense of time management. College is the best place to learn; it really sets you up for the real world where you will most likely be working 40 hours a week while trying to have a life at the same time. Like I said, it is not easy.

As a freshman, you will be spending the entire year trying to find your niche: what you like and who your friends are. Being burdened by an unnecessary amount of work can be a struggle. If you are required to take rigorous courses such as Introduction to Computer Science for example, you would probably not want to be in five other classes because this one course already takes up so much time.

Even classes that are said to be easy still require some effort. Classes like Introduction to Psychology are said to be easy A’s. There is no such thing as an easy A.  Even these 100-level courses require a lot of reading and attending lectures. The amount of work you put in reciprocates the grades you receive.

Right now, I am currently registered for 16 credit hours (fewest ever) for this fall. I will also be working two jobs, volunteering at the University YMCA and interning countless hours at The Daily Illini and buzz.  I like to keep myself busy. It’s tough, and I honestly would never recommend it unless you are ready for long days — and even longer nights.

Folake is a junior in FAA. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @fosibodu.