So during these times of courses beginning to wind down, projects starting to get the push, and deadlines looming, I figured I would write about navigating the waters of projects and deadlines.
The first three semesters of the architectural engineering program surround studio. If you haven’t experienced it, you’ve probably heard at least someone gripe about it. It was a magical time in my life where I lived in a world full of the organic and orthogonal, volumes and dynamics, emotions and feelings, and even learning to “taste the surroundings”.Although I no longer deal with that artistic line of thinking on a daily basis, those crazy days of late nights, stress, and meeting deadlines absolutely have helped shape my ability to deal with less than ideal situations in the real world.
Probably more than anything, the seemingly ridiculous deadlines and coursework I dealt with helped me learn to cope with stress. Which brings up an important point: don’t stress out! It’s not worth it!!
My wife teaches high school chemistry and physics and often deals with students who stress themselves out for one reason or another that seem so arbitrary today. Things like test makeups, studying for finals, and difficult assignments are no doubt challenging, but they’re not worth getting upset or stressed over. Especially when you’re done and looking back at it all.
Part of the learning experience for me was learning that school and work don’t need to be stressful parts of my life. They no doubt have been and will continue to be both challenging and demanding, but keeping the important parts of life in focus and keeping school and work in perspective has only made my days more fulfilling.
Deadlines will always continue to exist, and will be unreasonable. Work will at times be overbearing and difficult. We know this going in. My only suggestion is to try and keep a level head about it all, and most importantly keep things in perspective.
Don’t get me wrong, working hard goes a long way. We know that good grades help with job searches and qualifications and all, my only suggestion is not to put undue stress on yourself.
Additionally, get some sleep! For the people that know me know that I’m really more like a sixty-year-old trapped in a younger body, as I went to bed early even during my college years. Getting good sleep is important to your health and I think more importantly your sanity. So get some sleep!
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I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving, and a great Thanksgiving break.
Joey