The following is a cautionary tale related by a sophomore who is much wiser than she once was.

It was a rough fall semester — I found out that once freshman year is over, the work gets even harder. Go figure. I think for some reason I was expecting that the fact that I was a responsible little college student and had a full-time job over the summer meant that school would be my chance to relax and mess around, trying out lots of different things.

Come to find out, my GPA is allergic to procrastination.

Especially when I overbook myself.

For the record, I was not a slacker this past semester — on the other hand, I wasn’t Wonder Woman, either. My over-commitment, combined with my irrational fear of scheduling, led to quite a few ugly nights of frantic typing.

It was a semester of great new opportunities, friends, and accomplishments, but it was difficult to fully enjoy it all when I spent half my mornings moaning for more flex points so I could get a chai bomb. Even spending finals week on burnout mode wasn’t enough to take care of everything I had made myself responsible for — extracurricular commitments became like monsters in my closet, stealing away my remaining sleep.

My grade report for last semester looks like a bad bowl of alphabet soup.

Now, not to toot my own horn, but I was pretty snazzy with the whole “academics” thing in high school. Even during my first semester or two of college, things seemed to work pretty well on the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants system. Unfortunately, reality and the ever-popular “adulthood” concept have an unnerving way of catching up to even those of us who can, to borrow the colloquialism, pull essays out of our butts.

This semester, things will be different. Seriously. One day into classes, I could already feel it.

Maybe it was when I heard my roommate telling someone on our hall that I had actually been getting up earlier than I absolutely had to, and that I was getting out of bed when my alarm went off the first time. She sounded really impressed.

Maybe it was the time I first started using my iCal and that planner that I’ve had for a while. The planner is basically blank from September to November, but January reveals a boatload of lists, assignments, and meetings, all conveniently on paper so there’s more room in my head. It’s amazing how those things work.

Maybe it was when I landed an awesome job last week.

Maybe it was at home, when I got to hang out with my amazing parents who have tried their absolute hardest to help me pay for this arm-and-a-leg commitment called a college degree.

Maybe it was when I realized I really believed that this is actually where God wants me.

My advice? Man up — schedule your life. Be realistic about what you can and can’t do. Give yourself enough room to breathe, but not enough to be lazy. Plan time to pray.

Remember that you can only afford to be spontaneous if you manage your time well.

And make sure to prepare yourself for the best semester on record.