The first week back from winter break is always a little hectic.  The days seem to stretch on for a week, and yet the week seems to last only a day.  Coming back from a month of Christmas cookies and relaxation, I felt more than ready to throw myself back in the game of homework and internship applications.  The one problem with a month’s worth of energy built up in your brain is that you may overestimate your work capacity.

By Monday evening, after my roommate and I had settled in, I already had about twelve tabs open on my laptop.  Half of those were different internships, the other half consisted of handshake, Linkedin, the Scripps student portal, and so on.  My adrenaline, having been dormant for several weeks, was released during the online internship search and all of a sudden I felt like I could either run a marathon or run for President and probably win either way.  A classic mistake.

I made the impulsive decision that night to try and add an extra course to my schedule about history and media, then I emailed my dad in a frenzy asking whether or not I should minor in Marketing, Media Studies, or History.  I then emailed my older cousin, asking her to review and edit my resume.  By Tuesday morning I was enrolled in five courses, had an appointment with Career Planning & Resources about internship applications, and another appointment with SAGE (Study Abroad and Global Education) about finding the right program for my semester abroad next year.  After going to three classes that day, I realized I needed to start several applications for some political internships in Washington DC, read about one-hundred pages before class the next day, and call my aunt for some information on a potential connection with a campaign internship.  Needless to say, by Tuesday night, the thought of writing another cover letter made me want to hide under my Rams blanket forever (go Rams).

Life lessons are usually something you think about years after the fact.  For example, say someone, who will remain nameless, spent hundreds of dollars on coffee every year in high school and did not realize the consequences of poor money management until college, and now must limit her coffee intake.  Do not, under any circumstances, fall into the trap of expensive coffee.That is an important lesson that took me half a decade learn.  This week, I learned the lesson of career patience in the matter of 48 hours.  I am not saying that pounding out several applications, setting up several appointments, coming up with a course schedule for the next two years, and overloading on classes all in one night is a bad thing.  It is great to have those days where you briefly conquer the world.  However, if you go about your day thinking you have to conquer the world, the stress can weigh you down.  Yes, internships have application deadlines, and yes, it is great to plan ahead, but this week I learned that trying to meet every deadline in one day is not going to help me in the long run.  If applications are not due for at least another month, there is no reason I need to finish them by the end of the week.

Part of time management is learning the consequences of overworking yourself.  It can be just as unproductive as procrastinating.  The first week back is always a little hard, because I have to get back into the groove of things.  I am happy to say that I now feel like I have figured out my schedule and am ready to tackle those applications once again, just maybe not all at once.