Today, as always, I mapped out what I needed to get done today and the amount of time I thought it would take me to finish all the tasks. When I added up all the things, I realized that I wouldn't be finished until 10:00 tonight. Sad. That was my immediate reaction to that realization. No time to talk to friends? No time to even eat dinner? Or waste just a little bit of time on the computer? Really?
It is ever-difficult to adjust to the amount of work and the small amount of time I have to fit everything in. I am not sure how to get it all done. Also, I have realized that I am the sort of person who likes to reflect on everything. After I learn something, (if it is something I'm interested that in that is) I like to think about how it can be applied to my life. How it can connect to me as a person, how it could connect to my faith, how it can help me in my future career, or how it could can apply to past experiences I have had. Without this time to reflect on everything, it is becoming difficult for me to enjoy a lot of my classes. For instance, my pedagogy class talks about different aspects of being a piano teacher. Although the class is great, and the ideas we come up with are fantastic, it is hard for me to appreciate it. After we talk through things in class and do an assignment over it we immediately move on to something else. When we do these assignments I'd often times like to take the time to reflect during this time, but it is so difficult because I just have too much going on. I find myself becoming more of a performance learner and completing the assignment just to have it done. This realization is somewhat frightening since this class is basically what I'm majoring in and what I would like to go into as a career.
I think what I may have to do is take good notes and go over them all again in a reflective state over winter break or the summer when I have the time. It is just too difficult to think like that right now, when I have hours of practice time to schedule, other assignments to complete, people to talk to and sleep to think about. I wish that there was more time to think about things more critically in my other classes as well. I am disappointed that, although I take my faith very seriously, I don't have the time to connect what we are talking about in religion to build up my faith. And I am also disappointed that I can't find time to play the piano for the love of it. I am always so stressed about getting the allotted goals for my lesson finished that I can't take the time to think about how amazing the music really is. I wish I could work on a development for my love of piano, but I am just not sure when that will be.
Overall, I have enjoyed the college experience. But it is just difficult to enjoy all my classes when I do not have the time to reflect. It makes me feel much better when I can think things through logically and slowly, making sure I understand everything and making connections. But I suppose that will have to wait until a break when I have more time.
Sarah Ann
Wait until May Term -- when you have 3 hours of class time to process every night it can become a little overwhelming. I loved May Term as a student. I think it's important to choose May Term classes wisely though. Teaching them was a whole different ball of wax. No time to reflect in the teaching process either.
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