Who Has Time for Classes at College?

Who Has Time for Classes at College?
By: Melissa Raymond

If you have time to read this, you are not a Sweet Briar student. QVs, Riding Council, PhiBeta Lambda( Treasurer), Sweet Briar Engineering Society (Vice President), Junior Class President, StARs, ICC Community Chair, Leadership Certificate program, the Robot Team, ICC President-elect and taking 16 credits hours in one semester currently dominates Katelyn James’ life. Many Sweet Briar students could relate to James’ hectic extra-curricular schedule. So how do these students fit in classes and homework? There is a popular joke among college students: good grades, social life, sleep; you can only pick two. It seems that this is becoming less of a joke and more of a way of life. Many professors argue the real question is, should students be squeezing in classes and homework in between extra-curricular at college? Students refute this line of thought because they learn in all of their extra-curricular activities leadership and social experiences equal to what they learn in class. The answer could lie in how the student balances her extra-curricular activities and school work.

One look around Prothro’s breakfast crowd and you can see haggard looking students just finishing up an all-nighter and still trying to accomplish the rest of their work. Kristen Green,class of 2011 admits, “I never go to breakfast unless I have just pulled an all-nighter.” Students don’t pull all-nighters just because they were raving. Sweet Briar College is nationally ranked 16th by the Princeton review as a college where students study the most. Academics alone could be the culprit for epidemic of sleep-deprived students. When extra-curricular life, including both college sponsored activities as well as going to Boathouse parties, are crammed into a student’s schedule, it tends to knock out the luxury of sleep.

Dean of Co-Curricular Life at Sweet Briar College, Cheryl Steele, explains the philosophy behind naming her department as collaboration between classes and extra-curricular activities; “One should complement the other.” Dean Steele believes that extra-curricular activities can be as meaningful as what a student would learn in the classroom but not necessarily better. According to Steele, learning to balance academics and activities can be a lesson in itself. Time management can be one of the most important skills taught in college. After college, Steele states students will have to learn to balance “…work and home, husband and kids, and in life you are going to make mistakes….The most powerful lessons are learned through mistakes.” She will be the first to admit that adults in general and CCL employees in particular, are not good role models of balancing personal time with work. Balance is a good goal, but many students find it almost unachievable. Many Sweet Briar students have experienced the overwhelming commitment our CCL Staff has for the student body, and one can only presume the difficulties they have in balancing a personal life.


Professor Padmini Coopamah also attests to power of balance. She has had the enlightening opportunity to observe students from both America and Africa and has concluded that, “… [In America, students] just don’t fulfill their potential, they are not as prepared, don’t push themselves…. Here it’s like good enough instead of the best.” Coopamah is more concerned that social activities will take over a student’s life rather than extra-curricular activities. She explained that students in other parts of the world have social lives but also do not let it consume all of their time. In contrast, “French students are very involved politically…” Coopamah insists. She cites partying as the reason why students show up to class tired and unprepared. What many faculty and staff many not realize is managing college sanctioned club activities is the reason for staying up late. As a college student, Coopamah admits to wanting to be involved in everything: as a result, her grades suffered her sophomore year. Because of her experiences she recognizes the importance of getting a full night’s rest for health and academic benefits. According to Coopamah, sleep should be higher on the priorities list.Unfortunately, many students would love it if sleep were anywhere on their priority list but most often it does not always work out due to over commitment .

According to Katelyn James ‘11, “[Homework/preparing for class] falls about third on my priorities list, because meetings are on a timeline and homework can be anytime.” Many students such as Brooke Watts ‘12 can relate to this sentiment. Watts, a StAR and a member of Paint and Patches adds, “I try to keep class work high on my priority list, but commitments to my other clubs can occasionally get in the way. I would say that the big one that gets in the way is the hour requirements for PnP.” Meeting for all of our extra-curricular activities cannot be moved but homework can be done on the student’s time. Even if that time is at 4 in the morning.

Dean of Academic Affairs, Jonathan Green, witnesses the inevitable breakdowns of the over-worked student. “Students are always smart enough,” he explains, “but it is a paradox of freedom.” To elaborate, college students are suddenly given the freedom to plan their own schedules but they don’t know how to manage their time. He suggests going to the ARC for a lesson in time management so the student can see where their time is spent. Dean Green also recommends using all of the hours in between a student’s first class and dinner. Even our Dean believes he would have been a better student had he followed this advice. The struggle to balance extra-curricular activities with their academics is nothing new and does not seem to be going away anytime soon. Dean Green does sees clubs and sports as a positive, but a student shouldn’t miss a class because they “were out chalking all night.” As if to highlight the conundrum students face in their academic career, the interview was interrupted by a distressed student coming into the Dean’s office crying. Dean Green immediately got out of his seat to assess the situation before coming back to wrap up. The flustered student was his nineteenth one-on-one meeting with a student this week.


While the faculty and staff can give us resources and advice about time management and prioritizing, everyone interviewed confessed that they cannot always follow their own advice. Every day students do their best to coordinate a schedule that will to try to account for clubs, sports, jobs, and schoolwork. Some succeed, some struggle, but in most cases the perfect balance between those three aspects, grades, social life, and sleep remains elusive. With one last piece of advice, Dean Green states: “Students should be involved with everything but should also have their priorities in order.”