I just realized something about a "normal" schedule for a university student

I can’t actually conceptualize how all of the following can be done all together in one person’s schedule:

  • going to school full time
  • working part time
  • affording/maintaining independent living in an apartment or shared rental house
  • affording/maintaining your own car
  • having a social life
  • having time to relax and recharge (assuming that just using your social life for this purpose wouldn’t be enough on its own)

Bur as far as I know, plenty of people manage to successfully do all of this on a regular basis for 4 years or more while pursuing a higher education. I can’t imagine having the energy or motivation to do all of this for so long. Maybe it’s just because I never had to try hard in high school to get good grades, and then my prodromal phase came as soon as I started university and everything became a struggle.

Am I the only one who feels this way? Is somehow being able to make sufficient time for all of these things without completely burning out really such a common capability with most people? It seems like you would either have to really feel like you have a calling in life that requires this of you, or you really want a high paying job more than anything else in life.

It just hit me, how lucky I am that my inability to do these things all in tandem is considered part of a disability, so I get free money and free meds as a result…

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I feel the same way. I am in awe of “normal” people and their ability to balance so many different activities.

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When I did that I slept very little. And I was sick a lot of the time.

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Work while studying I couldn’t do it after sz and it decreased my grades. I finished university 5/6 semesters while on Abilify but I didn’t work while studying.

It took me 8 years to do my undergrad because I kept falling apart, or could only go part time for a bunch of semesters. I couldn’t finish law school, which I went to at age 33. I could only get halfway. I’ve always wanted to be someone who could function at a very high level. My brain thinks I can, then I try, and hate myself when I can’t, or I only can for short periods of time. I have so much I want to do with my life…

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Same for me, I stopped meds for 2yrs, went psychotic and lost 3yrs of my time during those 8yrs. Also I wasted 2yrs because I got diagnosed with psychosis a year after my 1st semester. I took a 1yr break after my 1st semester bcz of sz symptoms which led to my diagnosis.

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Most of the people I was in school with managed to do like 3 or 4 of those tops. Generally, sleep was the first to go. When I was younger, it was much easier to pull all nighters.

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