By Betsy Graves | University of Virginia, class of 2011

Oh, the irony!

The fact that time management would be the topic for this edition is actually quite humorous.

This realization hit me one afternoon when I was rushing to grab lunch between class and rehearsal, simply because it was the only half-hour block of my day that hadn’t been scheduled.

Where had the time gone?

Time management is a huge issue in college, and it’s different than anything you will ever face in high school. I’ve realized it’s something that takes both practice and patience. And it isn’t a skill you learn overnight.

In college, your time is truly your own. No one tells you what to do or when to do it. It’s up to you and you alone. There are also likely to be some restraints that you may have never had before, such as the “no vehicle for the first year” policy at many colleges . Plan on spending an hour for meals , for instance, because it may take you at least that long to walk to the dining hall and back.

Also, take time to explore. You will be in a new place, and that means you should be able to take full advantage of new experiences . Try new things, meet new people and perhaps experience something that you’ve never done before.

At the same time, though, don’t over commit. When you get to school, the possibilities seem endless. There are so many activities and interesting people who participate in them. It’s important to resist the urge to join everything. Not only is this time-consuming and expensive; it’s also impractical. College can sometimes be deceiving; you’re in class for a shorter amount of time than in high school. Shouldn’t that mean you have more time? No! This is not the case — at least in my experience — and I don’t think that will change.

Just because you participated in a couple hundred clubs and activities in high school does not mean you will be able to do so in college. Instead, find what interests you most (whether it’s an old sport or a new activity,) and pursue it . You may have to pick and choose (“Hmm, if I join the fencing club, I won’t be able to practice for inner tube water polo … ”), but it’s worth it. It will be tempting to want to do everything, especially if you go to an event fair and return with a stack of fliers big enough to kill half a rain forest. In the end, decide what you want and work to get it — it will help in the long run.

Another tip is to plan for the unexpected, because no day will ever turn out exactly as you intended. Don’t schedule every minute of the day. You never know what might come up, whether it’s going to get “dinner” at 2 a.m. or talking with friends until the wee hours. Leave time to enjoy yourself and get your work done.

At this point, I almost feel like I’m writing a self-help article about college life. If that’s the case, here’s a final message: Do the unpleasant things first, especially those papers and projects you particularly dread. While the thought of doing the hard stuff (especially when you could be working on something else,) is not pleasant, it’s better than starting work at 11p.m. the day before something is due. College is a different academic arena, and you will save yourself time and trouble doing the big things first.

If you get overwhelmed, speak up! Upperclassmen know what you’re going through. Sometimes it can help to hear from someone who has been through it , and how things turned out for them.

This semester I am in a program called “First Year Seminar,” which meets once a week and focuses on issues and insights at the university. There are 13 of us — three upperclassmen and 10 fellow first-years. This week’s topic was — you guessed it — time management. I found it interesting to realize it’s a challenge everyone faces and deals with in different ways.

Finally, learn to use your breaks. Sometimes you will have that awkward hour between classes, and it can be either helpful or wasted time. Figure out how to use it well. Last semester I met with old friends for coffee each week in the hour between my literature and French classes. It was the perfect amount of time for us to catch up.

In the end, it comes down to what you want to do with your time. Don’t think your life has to be set it stone. One of the best things about college is the opportunity for new experiences right outside your door. Don’t be afraid to go out and meet them. In the meantime, invest in a good planner.

— Betsy Graves is a 2007 Hidden Valley High School graduate and was a senior editor for the Edge. She is majoring in foreign affairs and English.

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By Katie Thisdell | James Madison University, class of 2011

It’s Saturday night, and I’m sitting at my computer surrounded by textbooks and highlighters.

My calendar is in front of me: Five tests in the next two weeks, along with two projects, at least two newspaper articles and meetings and obligations almost every day.

Welcome to my life. Welcome to the lives of many college students.

There are many things you can do with your time at college, but it’s important to learn how to maximize your 24 hours. Though everyone wishes for more time, it’s just not possible.

First, there are some distractions that can make your day disappear before you even realize it:

- Video games: I admit, I’ve never played video games, so I don’t understand the attraction of “Halo,” “Guitar Hero” and the like. Yet I’ve seen enough guys playing them that I can say they’re just not necessary. It may be OK to play them for a short amount of time, but don’t forget that the clock is still ticking while you’re shooting the bad guys.

- Movies and TV: Similar to video games, I just don’t see how so many people can sit in front of the tube for hours every day. Turn the lights back on, get out of the bed and put down the remote. You’re in college to get an education, not to burn out your brain cells.

- Facebook: Oh, Facebook, how we all adore thee. And unfortunately, we all adore thee a little too much. Or a lot too much, in some cases. I just clicked “refresh” on my own Facebook page. It’s time for all of us to get back into reality and leave our online worlds behind for a little while. Stop adding applications, leaving comments and browsing friends’ photos. If you’re going to spend lots of time online, you might as well find valuable sites, such as newspapers. There’s a real world out there, something many of us seem to have forgotten.

- Sleep: I’m not a typical college student in this area. I like getting up most mornings and getting things done. I don’t want to sleep until 1 p.m. If I do, I feel like I’ve wasted my whole day. Even 10 a.m. is late for me. But I understand a lot of people change their sleep habits once they move into dorms. I stay up a lot later now than I did during high school, but many students change even more drastically. Whatever your schedule happens to be, make sure that you get enough sleep on a regular basis, but that you don’t sleep too much either. There are things you could be doing with that extra time.

Now, I don’t want to tell you only about what to avoid for when you’re in college . Instead, I’m supposed to be helping you manage your time. Here are some tips :

- Go to class. Just reading the textbook won’t make up for missed lectures. Following your schedule will also help you stay organized. I like knowing where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing throughout the day.

- Between classes, don’t be idle. Try to read for another class, or complete tasks that are quick and easy. Last semester I had an hour between each of my three classes, so I always tried to study, read, or review notes so I wouldn’t fall behind. If I didn’t feel like doing that, I would read the newspaper or do something other than watch TV. I will admit, though, there were a few times I found couches and “read” my sociology textbook with my eyes closed. Just don’t do that too much; you’ll never get through the assigned chapters.

- Limit your clubs and organizations. I’ve always been the first one to sign up for everything I could, and I’ve continued to add to my lists of activities at college. Personally, keeping busy helps me focus my free time on homework and studying, because I know I have to get it done at some point. But don’t try to join three clubs that all meet on Tuesday at 7 p.m., because you’ll just get stressed, or upset because you can’t do everything. Concentrate on what’s most important to you, and dedicate more time to those activities.

- Keep a calendar. Write down the dates of all your tests and projects at the beginning of the semester. Add in weekly meetings or volunteer obligations. In pencil, write in lunch dates, meetings or outings . Keep your calendar close so you don’t forget what you must do each day.

Hopefully, you will know some basics of time management before leaving for college, though it will be different from high school because you’re on your own. Your mom and dad won’t be there reminding you what you have to do each day. You’re responsible for keeping track of your life. For a lot of people, that will be a huge challenge. For others, it’s not so hard.

No matter what type of person you are, you’ll realize that there’s only so much time each day, and you’ll likely have a “to do” list that keeps growing.

You’ll be surprised how fast 1,440 minutes — or 86,400 seconds — can pass each day.

— Katie Thisdell is a 2007 Patrick Henry High School graduate who was a senior editor for the Edge. She is majoring in the School of Media Arts and Design with a concentration in print journalism.

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By Hillary Mullet | Furman University, class of 2011

In college, there is always so much to do, and so little time. Good time-management skills are essential for balancing classes, homework, activities and a social life.

Here are three techniques that have been helpful to me:

- Plan well. Write all of your obligations on a calendar at the beginning of the month. This way, you will be able to easily identify which days will be especially busy. Use the lighter days to get a head start on your homework.

- Get into a routine. Pick a quiet place to study and go there for a few hours every day, no matter what. Treat your study time like it’s an important appointment that can’t be skipped. If you are productive during this block of time, you will have more free time during other parts of the day.

- Learn to say no. You will constantly be tempted by offers of fun and exciting activities. Take time to participate in some of them, but also be able to refuse. There is always a lot to do on a college campus, so you should definitely be able to have fun whenever you have extra time, without the worry of unfinished work hanging over your head.

— Hillary Mullet was a senior editor for the Edge and is a 2007 graduate of Patrick Henry High School and Roanoke Valley Governor’s School. She plans to major in English and/or psychology.

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By Byron Lawson | Northside High School

Byron Lawson is a senior at Northside High School.

Apple once again amazed the public while at the same time raising the bar even higher for its competitors.

On Jan. 15, during the keynote event at Apple’s annual MacWorld conference, four new pieces were shown: Time Capsule, iTunes movie rentals, Apple TV Take Two and the product that stole the show, the MacBook Air.

First unveiled was Apple’s alternative for wireless backup, Time Capsule.

Built for the new Mac OS X Leopard, users can now back up their Macs and PCs without wires.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said MacBook and MacBook Pro owners had been inconvenienced when backing up data to an external drive because the laptop had to be tethered to the drive.

The issue has now been averted with Time Capsule, which serves as both an Apple Extreme Wi-Fi base station and a built-in local hard drive.

With the new wireless standard, 802.11n, backing up data is blazing fast and simple. With this product, users can back up every Mac or PC in the house with the 500-gigabyte and 1-terabyte hard drives.

Time Capsule will be available for retail soon at $299 for the 500-gigabyte model and $499 for the 1-terabyte model.

Another product unveiled was iTunes Movie Rentals.

Rather than wasting effort and gas (which, at roughly $3 a gallon these days, is no laughing matter) you can simply click a button and your movie of choice will immediately begin downloading.

You can begin watching the movie as soon as you purchase it, even while it downloads in the background. The pricing is also competitive. It is $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases.

Movie rentals last up to 30 days after the purchase date. For 24 hours after the rental has been played, you can watch the rental as many times as you wish.

Following this announcement, Jobs showed vast changes in how the Apple TV will work, referring to it as the company’s “take two” with the product. Owners will be able to purchase and rent movies directly on Apple TV without the need for a computer or iTunes.

Since the product is geared more toward high definition, Apple revealed it will release movies in high definition for only a dollar more than the standard version ($3.99 for library titles, $4.99 for new releases).

Purchases made through the Apple TV will swiftly sync to your Mac or PC. However, rentals will not.

The Apple TV retails for $229 for the 40-gigabyte model, and $329 for the 160-gigabyte model.

Last and best of all was Apple’s biggest announcement of the expo: the incredibly thin MacBook Air.

Touted as the world’s thinnest laptop, the MacBook Air wowed critics, weighing in at only 3 pounds.

Jobs presented the glossy, 13.3-inch laptop in a standard interoffice envelope to emphasize its small size.

The MacBook comes with a 1.6-gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo processor (with a 1.8-gigahertz option) and 2-gigabytes standard for RAM, which unlike other Macs, can’t be upgraded.

Apple also surprised the audience with a (nonreplaceable) battery life of five hours with Wi-Fi.

The batteries in other laptops of that size allow for only two to three hours of use.

What it’s lacking is an optical drive (which reads CDs and DVDs). It was excluded because of the compact size.

But instead of watching a DVD on a laptop, you can rent a movie on iTunes and trade CDs for an iPod. Also, you can use the Time Capsule for back ups instead of using DVDs.

From 0.16 to 0.76 inches thick, the new laptop has a full-size backlit keyboard, built-in iSight webcam, and a new large track pad which mimics features of multi-touch. The MacBook Air will retail for $1,799 for a 1.6-gigahertz processor with a 80-gigabyte standard hard drive and $3,098 for a 1.8-gigahertz with a faster 64-gigabyte solid-state hard drive.

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By Hillary Mullet | Furman University, class of 2011

Sound familiar? These words are probably among the most frequently uttered in college dorms.

It’s true that money always seems to be in short supply for students. But fortunately, the college environment also makes it easy for you to stretch your small budget a long way.

The easiest (and best) way to save money in college is by taking advantage of free or cheap events offered by your school. Much of the time, you will find you don’t even need to leave campus to seek entertainment.

At Furman, I have attended sporting events, lectures, plays, concerts, carnivals, movies — complete with popcorn, candy and drinks — all without spending more than $3 for any activity.

Every school has a student activities board that works to bring exciting events to campus, and they really want you to attend.

Of course, there will always be those nights when you just need to get off campus and out of the college bubble. Maybe you just can’t stand to eat in the dining hall again. If you find that you and your friends frequent a certain restaurant, ask your family or friends for a gift card to that place for your birthday or a holiday. That way, you can afford to treat yourself to an occasional night out without feeling guilty or going broke.

But managing your money in college isn’t just about budgeting your social life. There are also many necessary expenses for your classes and your dorm room.

Some of the most expensive items are textbooks. The best way to save on books is to avoid purchasing them at the college bookstore. If possible, e-mail your professor or visit the bookstore a few weeks before classes start to find out which books you need. Then, buy them online or from another student. You may not be able to do this your first semester, but afterward, definitely try it. Books sold by the school are often overpriced.

College may be the first time you have really had to manage your own money. This is definitely an adjustment, but it doesn’t have to be difficult.

In fact, there are so many ways to save that you may find you are spending even less at college than you did while living at home.

— Hillary Mullet was a senior editor for the Edge and is a 2007 graduate of Patrick Henry High School and Roanoke Valley Governor’s School. She plans to major in English and/or psychology.

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