There will always be issues in hall. I just thought I'd write them down and condense my opinions in one place. And like before, I will try my best not to generalize other people's opinions, using mainly facts or my own thoughts, because I think it's unfair not just to those I'm slandering but also to the ones I agree with.
I want to make it a 6-part series. No real reason on why the number 6. But so far, what I have in mind is something like this.
Part 1: Orientation (Done)
Part 2: Juggling Commitments and Time Management
Part 3: Leadership
Part 4: JCRC
Part 5: Undecided
Part 6: Undecided
I actually had a really good idea on what to write for the final part, but I forgot. Sorry. Anyway, it should look something like this.
Which reminds me, I have laundry to wash.
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So right now is the CCA selection phase, as freshies are pulled here and there towards activities they themselves have no idea if they are interested yet. It's an annual cycle that parks itself right before serious lessons or assignments start so freshmen never really have a good handle on their craziness of their schedule until after the fact. And this is compounded by the fact that they actually have not started on their tutorials yet, giving them another false sense of "hey, I got this..."
Regardless of how much they think they got this, captains and chairpersons area always advised to select and retain more members that they think is necessary, because inevitably, the number starts to taper off once everyone gets into their midterms. I assume everyone reading this will understand why.
So why am I talking about this? Actually I don't believe there is anything wrong with this. It's just the way the world works today. If you find that this way of doing things is not right for you, you find another way of doing it. Some people truly do end up dropping out of their hall life because they cannot cope with so many commitments. But yet, if we really look deep and ask ourselves if we Can't do it, or we don't Want to do it, what answer do you expect to get? Then we go another level and ask, why is it that all these people around me and countless before have managed to juggle hall and school and remain excelling at both?
Juggling multiple commitments is not easy. You are constantly pulled in different directions by different factors. Why put yourself through this much angst of ANOTHER time-consuming activity. We do it because we enjoy being there. We enjoy the activities that we joined. At least, that's what it's like for me. There's nothing wrong with trying something out and realising it's not the right fit for you. I didn't find my 3 favourite CCAs on my first try. Neither did most of my peers. But what's important is that you give it a sincere try. It's meaningless to put your name to something that you aren't really interested in. There's no point joining 7 CCAs and attending less than half for each. There's no point signing up and saying you have no time. You will never ever have enough time for anything if you have that attitude. All of us struggle to find our own ways of juggling, but why did we put in that effort in the first place? Different people have different reasons. Some will say they want to test themselves. Others will say they want to accompany friends. At the end of the day, whatever reason they have for putting themselves through this, it was worth it to them.
And if you ever want to pull through and juggle hall alongside your many other commitments, you also need to find a reason that's worth it to you.
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Never believe anyone for a minute that they have "no time". "No time" is the ultimate excuse right behind "I want to focus on my studies". I believe people are very simple. They will always be able to make time for the things they want to do.
Let me make a very simple analogy that everyone can relate to. Suppose you come back after a long, hard day. You're tired. You're hungry. You're probably also in need of a shower. Which one do you satisfy first? Sleep, Food or Bath? Everyone has a different priority. Sometimes, even the same person may do something different due to the circumstances. Sometimes, you may even end up not doing one of the 3 at all. Everyone has experienced one of those days where you end up so deadbeat tired you can literally sleep on the floor, even if you're hungry or dirty. And here's the kicker, even the super clean freaks do this as well. Those that cannot go without a shower, also have had days where they just crash somewhere without cleaning themselves. That's because in that moment, priority goes to sleep more so than his own neuroses. Everything boils down to priorities. Everyone can put aside certain things if they really want something. In this case, it happened to be sleep. It doesn't make him any less of a clean freak. It's just the circumstance.
So coming back to hall and commitments. I'm not making the argument here that people don't study or they don't prioritise academia. But what I am saying is that it's always possible to put those things to one side. And I'm not just pointing to books as a culprit. Sometimes people will say they need to go out with their girlfriends or friends or even another competing CCA. To me, life is really about how much you want to be present for. And I prioritise my life with that in the center. Eventually, if you miss out on something regularly enough, people will just assume you won't show up. By then, it wouldn't even matter if you had the right intentions.
Never believe someone who says he has no time until he starts sleeping less than 2 hours a day. I have been in that position and I was still able to find time for my friend's birthday BBQ. Would I do it for everyone I knew? Heck no. But some people are important enough for me to take out 4 hours of my time during a critical school period. Some people are worth it. Some things are worth it. Ultimately you have to be the judge and decide whether this moment is worth losing some sleep or study time over. Sleep is not precious. I can always sleep more some other day. But if I miss this moment, will I get another chance?
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Knowing this means that you have to come to terms with the fact that people just aren't interested in what you want them to do. To deal with this, there are 2 approaches, make the environment worth that guy re-prioritizing or get rid of them. I regularly take the latter approach if I find someone not worth my time, even if it is at the expense of a higher workload. Because I feel the effort expended to woo him is simply not worth it.
As for me, I made it a point to be present for every RHOC meeting, event or activity. Because I knew it was important that I can and will do anything alongside my RHOCers. I made it a point to attend as many softball trainings as I could because I knew that I wanted to be good enough to play on the team based on my own merit. I made it a point to finish my Phoenix Press assignments on time, because it was something my friend truly believed in, and since my initial impetus is to help her; it only made sense to help her all the way. And last but not least, I made it a point to say yes every time a friend asked me out for an outing, because I knew whatever else I might have been doing instead will always be less meaningful than spending time with my friends.
School doesn't make any demands on my time, Because at the end of the day, I'm not going to remember the super helpful lecture or the amazing grades I got. All school does is make requests of my time, and I say yes pending my other commitments.
I want to end off by saying this. Figure out what you truly want to do with your life. Figure out what's worth sacrificing for. This post is not meant to teach you how to juggle hall and school. If hall is really not what you want to do with your time here, my sincerest suggestion is to find something worth spending your time on. Hall is simple another avenue for people to get together and do things. If you're not interested in that, then don't force yourself into loving it.
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