[LiteraryLark]

I'm a natural night owl, and today was the first day of classes at the JC. I have Acting MW, Journalism T/TH and an online MS Word course (which was the only course I could take for the path I'm on.)

My mom told me I am more manic when I am overwhelmed, and I definitely feel overwhelmed.

Right now I'm thinking of dropping Journalism if I don't like it. I love the acting class, maybe I'm worried I won't be able to handle 7.5 units of classes? But I am the yearbook girl and it's right up my alley. I need to give it a chance. Plus I already bought the books.

How do I calm myself down? I tried tea and candles with not much help and I had a relaxing evening. I was in bed at ten online with the tea and candles. I laid in bed with a bed buddy (heat pad) but nothing I am doing is working. There is an audiotape I have on my ipod of guided imagery, but I want to get stuff done. I have things to think about and I don't know how to quiet the thoughts and be relaxed.

Will sleeping pills help?
Please help!

[LiteraryLark]

I'm also stressed out because I am doing the recommended sequence of classes for medical assisting, but I didn't get priority for the fall so I couldn't get the classes I wanted and I'm worried about how to catch up, because I need to take certain pre-reqs and certain classes only happen during certain semesters.

=[

[LiteraryLark]

I also chose to pick a number from the musical Chicago as my "risk exercise" for acting as well as for auditioning for Beauty and the Beast and worried I won't be good enough.

[Bark]

Do you have any morning classes? I won't take anything before 9:30, and even that's on the early side for me. If you're a night owl, you can maybe try sleeping earlier, but you won't perform your best in the mornings, and that could be an added stressor.

If Journalism is just an elective, or a requirement that can be postponed, I would definitely drop it if you don't like it. It sounds like you have enough stress as it is, and toiling with a course and/or professor you don't like won't help.

I hate how some courses are say, once a year only in the fall. And then they decide to put other required courses at the same time! Or that one required course I need to take that's always around 8 in the morning.... Hopefully I'll be able to take it at a more reasonable hour before I graduate!

As for being worried about your audition, I'd say, just do your best. It sounds like something you're interested in, and I doubt you'd be horrible. I think you'll do just fine. And if you're not accepted for the role you auditioned for, there will always be other plays. A friend of mine auditioned for a leading role: when they asked her to sing, my jaw nearly dropped, she was that amazing. And a good actor! They ended up turning her down for that role and offering her a lesser one... I can't imagine why. They did ask her if she'd ever been in love before, and she said no, and I swear if that was the reason they didn't cast her in that role....

Basically, I'm saying if you try and don't succeed in getting the role you want, that doesn't automatically mean you weren't good enough. You could have been great, but in the end they could only choose one person, and you weren't the lucky one then. Or maybe you will be the lucky one!

Do you exercise at all, even if it's only a half hour walk? Watch your caffeine intake? Are you drinking regular tea, or herbal or green tea? Do you do things in bed other than sleep, like use a laptop? Try associating your bed only with sleep if that's the case.

College is definitely overwhelming at times: just try to take it day by day. If you find yourself worrying about what you'll be doing 4 years from now, tell yourself you'll think about it 4 years from now. It sounds like you're doing all the right things, and you've got at least your mom around for support. And as you said, it was the first day. You've got a few months ahead of you. Even if you feel it's not starting off great, you've got time to make things up.

Hope I helped some.

[missbelle]

Yes the more I have to do the more the adrenalin flows which can wind me up and keep me from relaxing...For me its another xanax.......but probably the best thing is more organization and taking one thing at a time if thats possible...making a list of priorites and trying to stick to it and then crossing off each thing when I have done it....also just slowing down and breathing....its tough when you are back at school I know...maybe a little meditation before the day begins, or a book of meditations that you can read each morning to center you!!

Try to practice staying in the present too...because the future can overwhelm the best of us if we let it!!(mindfulness)

A med to sleep might help......getting back to school is extremely stressful. Hopefully as you get into it and get used to your schedule you will better adapt too and relax more....

[onlytime]

I can definitely relate to being overwhelmed with schoolwork. One thing that helps me is breaking down assignments into baby steps. When I have a test or big paper coming up, I feel paralyzed because I don't know where to start. So breaking things down makes it more manageable. I hope this is somewhat helpful! Good luck!

[shinyfairykitty]

I'm also a night owl. I generally take like 16 to 20 units. I just try to take classes that are later in the day if possible, so I wake up at like 10am-11am, finish class at 3pm-6pm and then do my homework and stuff after that.

I actually had a terrible nightmare about this last night because I'm signed up for an 8am right now (my classes haven't started yet) and I don't think I can wake up that early, so I think I'm going to drop the class and take a different one that is later in the day.

[Bark]

Originally Posted by shinyfairykitty

I'm also a night owl. I generally take like 16 to 20 units. I just try to take classes that are later in the day if possible, so I wake up at like 10am-11am, finish class at 3pm-6pm and then do my homework and stuff after that.

I actually had a terrible nightmare about this last night because I'm signed up for an 8am right now (my classes haven't started yet) and I don't think I can wake up that early, so I think I'm going to drop the class and take a different one that is later in the day.

I think you should drop the class. If you're anything like me, you'll barely be able to wake up and probably be late to class pretty often. If you have an alternative, go for it.