A Second Semester Senior’s 168
When you arrive at Babson, your week will consist of 168 hours. That may seem like a large number, but those hours really fly by. Everyone spends their time in different ways, but here’s my 168 as an example.
Since I’m taking a reduced course load this semester (less than 15 credits), it’s been especially important to effectively manage my time or else I’d end up doing nothing with my free time. Besides class related activities (time in the classroom, homework, studying, and group meetings), I spend my 168 weekly hours among a few main activities: student organization involvement, work, job searching and networking, social time, and down time.
Above is a roughly accurate screenshot of my schedule for this past week. Of course, each week is different, but this gives you a general idea of one second semester senior. Some major activities this week have been:
- Job searching: This includes actively looking for jobs posted on LinkedIn and Career Connections, emailing connections, researching companies and job titles of interest, writing cover letters and tailoring resumes, and updating social media profiles such as LinkedIn and Angelist.
- Entrepreneurship Tower (E-Tower): As Vice President of E-Tower, I help plan and run our weekly meetings. E-Tower is an undergraduate student organization whose members desire to pursue entrepreneurship in action and develop entrepreneurial leadership skills. It’s also one of a few special interest communities at Babson, which are one option for on-campus housing. Incoming first years aren’t allowed to live in special interest housing, but it’s something to keep in mind for second semester. This week we welcomed our new E-Tower members who will be residents next semester.
E-Tower members and friends
- Work: I’ve been working at the STEP Project since June 2011. The STEP (Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices) Project is a global applied research initiative that explores the entrepreneurial process within business families and generates solutions that have immediate application for family leaders. If you’re interested in working while attending college, there are several options for students. There’s work-study, off-campus internships and jobs, on-campus jobs, freelancing, and of course starting your own business!
Everyone builds their own path, and I’ve learned that it’s neither final nor permanent. The first year is a good time to explore and to experiment with different interests, passions, and activities. It’s better to try something once and figure out you don’t like it rather than never have tried it at all!
-Sarah