Life as a Student Author

            Much attention nowadays is given to the levels of stress among college students, much of which is due to finances, living away from home, and the sheer work-load of the numerous classes that they take.  As opposed to the jokes about taking “Basket-weaving 101”, almost all of the classes a college student today takes are required for their major, minor, or general education requirement, and a failure in any of these classes could put the student at risk for graduating (at least) a semester later than originally planned.  Further stress to achieve and spend great amounts of time studying for class is introduced if the student needs to maintain a high GPA, be it for their major, academic society, or scholarship.  With all of these demanding, time-consuming, stressful, and crucially important hours of study (which appear vastly more important to the student in the now than they often actually are), then where can anyone find or slip in any real time to write, to be a student author?
            Speaking from personal experience, the only way to allot such time to being a writer, which is a passion of mine now and will probably remain so far into my life, requires working, not necessarily harder, but more proactively than the regular college student, and making slight, but significant changes to one’s social life.  Let me explain what I mean by “proactively”.  Say Evan and Sally are in a GHIST 102 class one Monday, and the professor assigns a 5-page paper that is due in one week.  While Sally may not start the paper until Friday, I, needing that extra bit of time to devote to my writing, sit down at my computer right as I get back to my dorm room and start writing about the Opium Wars, and continue to do so in any free time that I have until the first draft is done.  More than likely, though, I’ll have homework, papers, projects, etc. due in other classes as well, so I spend some time knocking those out before revisiting my paper, revising it, and printing out the final copy for GHIST.  Essentially, the work ethic of a student author cannot be a game of “catch-up”, but rather it needs need to be a “finish ASAP” mentality in order for any real time to be given to writing.  Again, this does not mean that a productive student author necessarily “works harder” than other students, it has nothing to do with it, really, but that he/she gets everything “off of their plate” early, though this is much easier said than done in the demanding college environment of today.
            One of the most challenging aspects of college life for students today is finding that perfect balance between work and play; of how many hours one can/should spend studying versus how many hours one spends socializing, playing sports, and even sleeping.  Personally, I need at least six hours of sleep to function properly the next day, so I only tend to stay up all night writing either if I nothing to do the next day or if I’m really, really “in the zone”.  As a result, in conjunction with the work ethic I described before, I free up time for myself to write by omitting to participate in a staple of college life, partying.  As a clarification, I’m not speaking of “get-togethers” or hanging out with friends on a regular basis, but spending much of the evening, on a weekly basis, at a frat house, or other social site, dancing with strangers and, for any “real” college parties, drinking.  This is not to say that I do not attend social functions, even popular dances, where alcohol is not served, nor is it to say that parties where alcohol is served are inherently immoral or a waste of time.  The latter is an argument for another time and another place.  This is just a personal account demonstrating that, as a student author, a good chunk of time should be devoted to one’s writing, and even with a proactive work ethic, other aspects of modern college life, more than likely, must be foregone in order to gain such time.
            As a final note, one of the most crucial habits, that I exhibit as a student author is that I never stop thinking about my writing.  In every bit of free time that I have, and sometimes during my not-so-free time, the words, paragraphs, and pages of my work run through my head in an effort to improve on either what I have already written or will write in further chapters, and even further novels.  While this trait is greatly important for any author, it is most crucial for the student author, who lacks the proper time to sit down and study his or her own work for more than the fewest of hours.  This habit can be thought of as an adaptation of multitasking, a habit which almost every successful college student has either already mastered or will soon fully master.  
The time that a student author has to devote to their passion is scarce, so therefore time must be created through proactive work, multitask, sacrifice.  Although it is a tough lifestyle, I have found that it is a fulfilling one, and a greatly unique artistic expression.

I hope you all have enjoyed this first installment of “Life as a…”, and I hope that you will stick around for the next many to come!
As always, thanks for the support!
~Evan Meekins