The Adventures of a College Student: Not Enough Time

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Definition of Time

365 days in a year. 52 weeks in one year. Seven days in a week. 24 hours in one day. 60 minutes in an hour. One minute is 60 seconds.

The meaning of those sentences above could easily be summed up as TIME. Time is money. Time is energy. Time is Power. Time is EVERYTHING.

Disagree with me not, for time truly is everything. Even more so when you are a working-college student.

My time, from the moment I wake up, is consumed by things, ideas, plans, and work. My time is not essentially handed out but rather taken away from me. For there are times that I am a rushing race horse. Continuously, running a race that appears like there is no finish line.

This week was a week that I saw time leaving and it seemed that I couldn’t stop it. It seemed as though it was pulling me and I couldn’t catch up.

Time: Local Construction

A couple of months ago, my commute to school would’ve taken, with traffic, 15 minutes. However, the state, coincidentally, started construction when I transferred. At first, it was one lane closing. The solution was to just merge into another lane. Add three minutes. Then it was one whole road closing. That wasn’t so bad and it wasn’t so great either. However, all I did was just take another way to the highway. Add ten minutes. The biggest upset came when two of the bridges I normally would take magically disappeared. This caused me to take a back road that had, sure enough, two school zones. Add 10 minutes. No, let’s add 15 minutes for the fun of my stress in the morning.

Funny Picture that I saw on Facebook about Denton Traffic. (Credit: Avery Comer)

If your Math is at least on a fifth grade level, you’re correct. It’s a 43 minute drive from my house to the University of North Texas. Insane, try doing it four times a week.  

Time: Roommate

I have recently began staying with a friend on the days that I go to campus. She stays a lot closer with no construction issues. However the issues with staying with her is that she’s a night owl and a busy bee combined. While I’m snuggly uncomfortably on her old Granny couch. She flickers on lights here and there and holds night conversations with her live-in boyfriend. While my eyes are closed, I can hear her considerably saying, “Let’s try not to wake Ta’Niya.” As she goes in the kitchen to fry some French Fries and drink unusual amounts of water before bedtime.

Also, her air conditioning is nothing shy of – Antarctica meets the North Pole- cold temperatures.

My Polar Bear Best Friend that I’ve known since I was ten. She’s a great person when she’s not freezing me. (Credit: Ta’Niya Breedlove)

Time: School

By the time I finally go to sleep, my alarm, ever so nicely, wakes me with a startle.

My class schedule for this semester. (Credit by: Ta’Niya Breedlove)

Classes aren’t so bad. Being in my Major Core classes and an online science class is not a difficult schedule.  Basically, I listen to tons of lectures and complete unlimited amounts of assignments. After my classes are over at 12: 20pm, I can anticipate more things highlighted and bolded in my Planner.

I say my goodbyes to my friends as they walk to Fry Street and complain about school over margaritas. If only I had the time to complain.

 Time: Work

I rush into work with one leg in jeans and another in khakis with my arms in my labeled polo. That is a bit of an exaggeration but I am in a hurry to clock in. I usually change in the car or in the bathroom at work.

Pajama Day with one of my Daycare Kids. (Credit: Ta’Niya Breedlove)

I work with the most eccentric group of four year olds. I must have as much energy and craziness as them. If I don’t, I will be aggravated and frustrated. I have to worry about planning activities for them to do every day. The activities usually involve a wide variety of objects; marsh mellows, silly string, construction paper, paint and more. As well as, cleaning up a disastrous classroom after majority of my kids have left for the day. Overall my time at work is between six to eight hours a day. My boss is kind to work with my school schedule so I arrive when I can. Sometimes at work I wish I was rich so that I could just go to school. The time that I use working extremely hard I could focus on homework, studying, or finding an internship. However, I need to pay bills.

Time: Extra

Every day I get a total of two hours to myself when I finally get home. I usually try to unwind by doing my favorite thing, WATCHING TV. I feel that I may have gone crazy a long time ago if I didn’t have my shows to look forward to. I watch a combination of different shows. I love shows like comedy, drama, and reality. I watch Scandal, Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time and more. Sometimes when I’m stressed at school or work I think of what television show comes on that night. This moment is my escape from reality for a bit.

Time: Family and Maybe Friends or Neither

Dinner with my family at Babe’s Chicken in Sanger, Texas. (Credit: Ta’Niya Breedlove)

My Brother took these pictures. We were in the car as a family. (Credit: DJ Breedlove)

The most heartbreaking thing of all is my lack of time with my circle of love. This circle consists of my family and my close friends. I am robbed of energy and time that I can spend with them. There are times when we are going to dinner or a movie that I snooze in my seat. Though I am grateful for their support they sometimes are upset when I can’t be with them. They become sad when I constantly have to say, “Raincheck, please?” They don’t fully understand the life that I am living and that my acts aren’t intentional.

In Reality….

I would love to say that this post is a complaint. It is a reality of what my life is. This is my life. I know that I only have one to live. All of the many things that I am doing are important to me.

I love that I am going to school to be a Broadcast Journalist. I love that I have a fun job that allows me to be crazy. I love the town that I live in, regardless of all the construction. I will always love my Circle of Love.

There are times when I am completely overwhelmed and exhausted. There are times when I laugh to the point of crying. I love so hard that my heart beats strong. With all of these factors, I continue to add to my planner. Time continues to go on with my life.

Feeling positive about my life. (Credit: Ta’Niya Breedlove)