There’s one thing that college students could use more of, regardless of who they are or what they are studying.

It’s not more food, it’s not more alcohol and it’s not more money, although all of those would be extremely nice.

Ask most students around and I’m sure they would all agree that above all of those, they would like to have more time.

Time seems like a mythical creature that you read about in books and watch on the History Channel. It’s something you know you’ve experienced a little, but nobody ever seems to have any, myself included.

With school, work and trying to keep a social life I have learned time is hard to come by. But while learning that, I came to the conclusion that having no time meant it was time for me to grow up.

Our primary goal here is to get an education. It can become hectic to juggle going to class, doing all of the reading and homework that is required and also finding time to study.

For me, doing homework and studying are somewhat foreign. I never studied in high school and rarely did homework until about five minutes before class because I could get away with it and still get good grades.

Now well into my college years, I’ve learned if I don’t make time for studying and homework, I’ll more than likely be getting a call from home telling me I better snap into shape or I’ll be moving back.

For many students, it only begins with going to school. Many of us also need to work. Our jobs help us pay for our tuition, food and most of our social lives.

Waking up and going to class is hard enough, but following it up with going to work can make your days absolutely treacherous. Along with that, time seems to dwindle away faster than ever.

As a reporter at the State News, my days are pretty long sometimes. I go to class at 8 a.m. every day until noon, then usually go to work from 2-7 p.m. After a month or so, I realized my grade point average looked like the frigid temperatures outside. It was time to make some changes.

I never had a job in college before this semester, but I learned quickly that being my original lazy self was no longer going to work. There was no time available for me, and I needed to grow up.

For my entire life, I used Sunday as a day to get all of my work done. It’s a terrible habit, but one that I can’t really get away from.

Now I’m working on Sundays, which cuts into the time I would normally work on school-related things. So naturally, school just gets pushed aside because laziness and lack of time always win.

No matter what way you slice it up as a student in college, something always seems to suffer when deciding how to budget your time.

This is the real test of college. Learning how to manage your time and being at school throws you right into the fire and requires you to learn to budget your time.

I have a new respect for people who have worked throughout college and still make the Dean’s list, all while maintaining a fulfilling social life.

Erik Sargent is a State News reporter. Reach him at esargent@statenews.com.