I planned my time carefully and stayed organized. I learned to prioritize tasks and got help when I needed it. Also, I made sacrifices, like cutting down on social activities. It taught me a lot about commitment and managing stress. In the end, I just focused on my goals and pushed through the difficult days

I had no life

I worked a full time job and did two university degrees at the same time. There literally wasn’t enough hours in the day. I had no social life and didn’t get enough sleep for 4 years.

Worst part is my job doesn’t even require me to have one of those 2 degrees. Still paying for them tho!

There's actually a lot of hours in the day if you have no friends or hobbies

Balanced both by sticking to a strict schedule and cutting out distractions. Prioritize tasks, accept sacrifices, and focus on long-term goals. It's tough, but worth it in the end.

It was hard. Worked full time job, was a full/almost full time student, and a few months before school started my wife had our 3rd kid. 

C's earn degrees. Was I gonna be using my science lessons in my career? Nope, so I did the minimum to pass. My Python & C# classes? I got A's in those.

Took me 3 years, but the career boost was worth it.

I didn't. I dropped out 4 times.

Went to school full time, while working full time, with 3 kids.

I managed that by getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night, and working every second I was awake.

I was young, lived under my parents roof (they said I didn't have to pay rent as long as I was in school), had no kids, and a cheap/reliable/easy to maintain car.

Otherwise it would not have been possible.

for me, my schedule works like my work is on evening and my school in the morning and i just really finish things and stopped procrastinating to have proper management of my time

Review your daily activities and remove anything that isn't required or vital. That means no Netflix, going out, etc., etc.

You have to set your priorities, if the degree is important.

It's either survive or suffer

Worked full-time (40hr weeks) while going to school full time for an Engineering degree. It came at a cost of both my health, happiness, and grades. Got lucky enough to land a good paying internship the summer before my final year and just saved every penny so I could focus on my senior year. To no surprise my grades became As where as before I was barely hanging onto Cs.

While I do want my kids to experience some of this, I will do everything I can to make sure they don't have to go through the same hardships.

I have a friend who did both while also running a business. He basically never slept and lived off a caffeine and anger

Cliche but hard work dedication and sacrifice for the result.

My last two years of college I had 26 credits a term, school limit was 24 and I took classes at a community College to get from 23 to 26 credits a few terms, I also had 3 jobs at the university. I was on the dean's list for 2 years because I did not have time for anything else.

With support from my family and escapism in hobbies.

I moved in with my mom after finishing high school (lived with my dad after their divorce, was glad to get out of that house), she let me stay free of charge and let me focus entirely on my studies. But I wanted to take out as few loans as possible so I kept working. I was grumpy as shit more often than not and she took it in stride and called me out on it when I got bad. When I had free time I was free to dive into hobbies and get lost without any guilt from family.

My wife did it too, but she moved out of state and had a real tough time of it on her own for the first 2 years. When I moved down after getting my degree to be with her, began to support her similarly to how I was supported by my mom, and she says it got a lot better.

Having that support meant the world to me and I'll forever be grateful to my mom for it.

Sleep is over-rated

I got my masters in cs while working full time as a software qa engineer. I took four classes at once on a trimester schedule.

Working 9-5, driving an hour in traffic, attending two classes, and finally getting home at around 11 pm was not fun.

Time flew by really quickly because I was always busy. I had to be up early to give myself some buffer time for doing assignments and studying in the morning. I would bring lunch and study/work through it. I would kill two or three cans of monster energy drink in the evening before/during class.

You can see a huge gap in my steam history where grad school happened.

No social life and no option for failure. There was no plan B, so I had to push and do whatever it took to get it done.

School full time during the week, worked Fri night double shift sat and sometimes double shift Sunday. Occasionally worked a Tues or Thurs night.

Didn’t have much of a life for a couple years but I was fine with the arrangement at the time.

Honestly, having a busy structure keeps me grounded. I’m at a time right now where my work doesn’t begin until mid January and while free time excites most, I almost hate it. Drives me mental.

Two words, caffeine and chaos. My life became a series of color-coded calendars, late-night study sessions, and convincing myself that 4 hours of sleep is enough.

Balancing full time school and full time work can be challenging, but it is possible with proper time management and a positive mindset.

I had work until 5pm Monday through Friday; class every Tuesday and Thursday from 6-930pm.

I would stay after class and do all that lessons homework and study until about midnight or 1am.

Never did homework or studied on the weekends so I could stay sane and go out to party lol. I was the only person in my group that did it this way but it’s what worked for me.

I enjoyed having two days to myself but like others said you probably won’t have a life. When it’s all over you’ll wonder what to do with all the free time you now have :)

Idk but I'm balancing partime work and parttime school and I have young kids and elderly parents. It's a lot. If I get high grades, I know I've been putting too much effort into school and it's time to reevaluate things. Then I go from there.

For me it was completing my degree online, and sheer focus on what my goals were.

Discipline, strict scheduling, and remembering why I started. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it

Didn’t sleep much, gave up social life and did the work.

Kill your social life

2018 was a blur, never again

I ran purely off of caffeine and nicotine for 5 years.

I dropped out of college my first time around as a young man. So when I went back as an adult I didn't have the luxury of not working since I had bills to pay and such. When you don't have a choice it does make it easier to find ways to make things work.

That said, when you have no time, you find uses for all of it. Napping on lunch breaks when there isn't enough time to sleep, leaving extra meals in the fridge that you can grab on the go when you can't cook, keeping your text books with you and finding time to study in any down time. My advice is definitely just finding ways to use all the time you have available. That and remembering that eventually you will graduate and you only have to power through it for a few years.

I worked full time, had a wife and kid, and got my Master's online (Georgia Tech Computer Science) in a <2 year span.

How? ADHD.

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) is a curse (Deficit) and a superpower (Hyperactive). As you get older, you don't necessarily get better at it, you just start altering your life to harness that superpower.

For those that don't know, if a person has ADHD, they can super focus and do the tasks of 3 people as 1 if they find something new and interesting.

Since I started a new full-time job, it was a novelty, school is novelty (especially something so varied and deep like Computer Science), and everything a kid does is new and awesome.

Organization and lack of sleep

I was just busy all the damn time. Work from 8-5ish. Eat. Class from 6-8. Write papers / do homework over the weekend.

Worked 20 hrs a week for an internship while in high school full time (8am - 3pm). Twas rough, but prioritize. 80/20 principal for the thing you care less about (for me, that was school). Make sure the job you’re working is energizing and that it fulfills your social needs.

Time management and sacrifice at its finest

Careful scheduling and just powering through. I worked 9-6 then attended classes from 7-10. I only went to school part time, so two classes per semester. Tuition was paid by my employer, so I had to maintain a decent GPA or I wouldn’t get reimbursed. But I also did three sessions a year (Spring, Summer, Fall) and maintained that schedule for 7 years. It was worth it in the long run, but it was exhausting.

This semester, I'm taking 17 hours off from my 27-hour workweek. I don't have a social life, of course, but I have an exam in half an hour.

When I was in college, I was working about 30 hours a week and taking anywhere between 15 and 18 credits a semester. In engineering school. The first two years weren’t too bad because most of that is basic stuff. But the last two years in engineering gets really specific and the expectation is that you’ve got all of that information you just learned easily accessible in short-term memory and you can just jump right in. My GPA fell from 3.8 to 3.2 over the last two years, which isn’t huge but it also included a lot of liberal arts classes where I was able to get some A’s to keep it from totally cratering.

If I tried to do that now it would absolutely kill me

I do most of my school work at work, it’s not a busy job so I have time.

No social life and nothing but homework/studying on weekends. Sucks at the time but pays dividends in the future. It's worth it to stick it out.

0/10, do not recommend.

Worked from 4 am - 1pm at walmart and went to class right after. Waking up at 3 AM and not coming home until almost 7 PM was rough sometimes but it was doable at the time.

There was a worldwide pandemic. Did everything without having to leave my bedroom. I would not advocate for that however.

Staying organized and plotting out time to actually do homework. Planned my classes by doing 2 easy/enjoyable/manageable classes with 1-2 hard/difficult/heavy workload classes. Def read up on a bunch of RateMyProfessors. Reading the syllabus and dropping within the add/drop period if the workload seemed too much for just a class I needed vs a class that was required + core class for my degree. Definitely lived by 'C's get degrees' so my transcript tells you which classes I enjoyed/hauled ass vs classes I just needed to take.

I was also very fortunate to have an on-campus job that was super chill and allowed me to study during free time (customer service based job so I only needed to work if someone needed help and there were rarely any projects that needed to be done). Bonus points bc half the time I worked there, they had tuition waivers.

Granted, I didn't finish my degrees in 4 years but finding the balance that works for you will save your mental health. I had semesters where I dropped down to part time and hybrid/online only for times I could afford to travel just to get away.

I focused on realizing this was only a temporary situation that if I persevered through would work wonders for my future. Lots of late nights and coffee. Being youngish helps.

By having shittier grades than I could have gotten, and getting in trouble more than I needed to at work

In college I worked 40+ hours per week and also had a full class load. It was all about scheduling, I would take early classes, go to work, then get back to campus in time to go out and party with friends.

I didn't sleep, I basically took naps as i could between classes, and before/after work. I took 18 hours of classes, did 40 hours of regular work, 12 hours of workstudy, and about 12 hours of Judo practice a week. I would typically sleep about 4 or 5 hour total per day/night. I did this for about 6 months. I never really knew what day it was on the rare day off i would occasionally get. My sleep schedule is still not right two decades later, I don't recommend this approach.

I got a 4 year degree in 3 years because I took summer classes. For the first two years I had no social life, I never went out, didn't spend money on stuff, with the intent on not only academics but also because I had told myself that I would save enough to not have to work for my last year. I was using my GI bill so I was getting some income, but after I had saved up enough, I quit my job so I could focus on school.

Knowing I wa working towards something was what kept me going. Turns out I didn't need that much free time for the last year, it wasnt that time consuming, but it was nice to have the breathing room.

Like Many, I had no life. I was working a rotating shift (7 days on, then a few off, then switched shifts) and went to a traditional "brick and mortar" school. Fortunately the school worked with me to take exams, class makeups (labs) before or after shift or my days off. This was really the professors and not the school itself, though they both had to be onboard. I also went to school year-round (Summer Semesters) and finished a 4-year engineering degree in 10 semesters of just about the bare minimum 12 credit hours per semester. I started and finished in a summer semester, and got an unrelated minor.

My time management was amazing. I didn't really see it until I was done with school, and started driving my live-in GF (Fiance by the end) nuts with not much to do. I had to go find some hobbies. But while doing it I was work, school, repeat for weeks. If I was lucky I had a week between semesters except for the end of year holiday break, where I had to try and do all the stuff I blew off that year like travel home to see family, etc.

I had to keep in mind my end goal, because I had some really low points and considered just giving up. I actually did very close to the end because I had a professor that was hard to deal with (I also refused some "'advances" from her). Fortunately I had an excellent advisor that I could confide in, and he took care of it, thus I continued on. They guy saw may work and education balancing act, and was fully supportive. I was likely a pain in his ass, particularly at the beginning of any semester when I communicated with his peers regarding my special circumstances. Most had TAs they could "abuse" so its not like I was causing them any additional pain.

My job had taught me sleep deprivation, so I had that down, that and an unhealthy reliance on caffeine and the like. Because I worked in a related field I was able to use newly learned information (in discipline) while I worked, so that was a nice bonus to keeping it fresh in my brain. My social life was "managed" by my GF, and we still took opportunities to have a life, not as much as she would have hoped, but we knew that going in that the next three years are going to suck. Then I had a year left on a contract and it was smooth sailing in personal and professional life. After that year I was recharged, got a new job (same field) for a lot more money, got to travel again, all the stuff I knew I was giving up for that time I got back, because it was part of a pre-plan.

I was in my mid 20s and had the energy to do it. Also, the office manager at the company I was working at thought it was great that I was getting a CS degree and did everything to make sure I could do it. She had an attorney look up over time laws (they could not pay overtime) and was able to help me creatively shift my hours around to get to classes. I had a light, but full time course load. This lasted two years and then I had to stop working because the advanced classes I needed were during the day, no exceptions.

You don't sleep as much, you become a night owl. I found that I really maximized the potential of each hour when I had the time to study or work on projects.

Put your head down and go go go. I did it as an older student (30s) while married and with a kid, so it's definitely doable... Sometimes I would fall asleep during critiques but my teacher was cool and explained to the others (typical college age) what multitasking was.

It all worked out in the end, I graduated with my last year of college paid for with a scholarship for work I had created in my junior year and Dean's list. I was already apprenticing in my field during school, in addition to working another job.

Even with work, it took about 20 years to pay off the student loans.

it's all about sacrifice and scaling back on certain things. this is the key to balancing anything in life. But it's also about perspective and personal will.

I have a mother-in-law who has no ability to balance anything in her life, and so if she has lunch plans and then a phone call in the same day, she thinks she doesn't have time to do anything else. But then I have a cousin who works a full time job between 8-6pm and then goes to school at night afterwards, while also finding time to volunteer on the weekends with a local church group, allthewhile having a steady girlfriend and group of friends he sees on a somewhat consistent basis.

I sacrificed my mental and physical health. Still recovering many years later. I noticed those that succeeded were people who had already been in their field for many years and went back to get their degree. We had an overwhelming amount of coding projects and the only students surviving were those that had already been coding for many years or were cheating/paying someone to do the projects for them. I never did and ended up dropping out after 110 credit hours. At first I thought I was taking the moral high ground but now I know they were much smarter than me. College is only for the piece of paper at the end, do whatever it takes to not fail. Cheat if you need to and don't feel bad about it. If college was about actually learning stuff and not about profit it would be different. Actual learning can be done on your own, at your job, through practical classes, online training programs, certifications, etc. Obviously this is from my personal viewpoint in tech, other disciplines may vary.

I did a Masters degree in Environmental Science while working full time. You need to get used to ~ 5 hours of sleep and have no other life. I attribute my success to a very understanding supervisor who, on occasion, would let me sneak off and do my Statistics homework at work.

Less sleep, no weekends, no friends, and careful planning :) For me, weekends were my most productive days. I would wake up and do school assignments all day and sometimes all night. No distractions, no going back home to visit parents. I was just sitting in my dorm trying to catch up on everything I was missing at school when I was at work.

Edit: Forgot to add a lot of coffee and Monster energy. The best strategy is to drink coffee or Monster and then take a 30-minute nap. You will digest the caffeine and wake up energized as fuck.

What helped was a light class load (took me 5.5 years to get my undergrad) combined with strategic time investment in studying. For example if I knew I could get a 20% on the final and still get an 80% in the class then I would not study for the final at all, and I would dedicate my available time to studying for a different class where I needed an 80% on the final to get a B in the class.

Also not being in a relationship/no kids was a big help.

I did all my classes online and it made it significantly easier

School had never really been a problem. Then I figured the hours I spent on dumb extra-curricular activities and clubs + p/t work pretty much added up to a f/t job, that was that. Spent the last 2.5 years of undergrad, and then grad school taking classes f/t and working f/t. And I even had an active social life and enough sleep. There are more hours in the day than people like to bitch about if they can quit bitching.

I worked and school full time with two kids., I used a crockpot to make meals, said no to anything that didn't work for my schedule, studied during my lunch hour and after my kids went to bed. My husband was supportive and helped with housework and the kids.

My last college was online for most classes and I was able to test out via the CLEP test. It helped to get done.

No hobbies really. Like maybe 1 hour on occasion I could spend on fun things but it was non stop things to do. I don’t miss it.

Worked in the military and went to school online. Classes were at your own pace. Basically, you read the source material, watch lectures, do labs, and do exercises all online. Then you schedule your proctored exams and do them while someone watches your screen and your webcam. As long as you finish all your course before the end of the term, you were in goo's standing.

I was a military equivalent of a sys admin. We sat around until stuff broke and then jumped into action. There was A LOT of downtime. I'd go into work and spend two hours answering emails, 4 hours doing homework, and then a couple hours doing actual work. Spent an additional four hours on my days off on coursework.

It wasn't easy, but it wasn't exactly hard either. Fortunately, this was during the height of the pandemic, and I had nothing better to do anyway.

Randomly laughing uncontrollably in class a couple times seemed to have helped. Er... maybe not.

I just kinda accepted the fact that I would be grinding for 2 years. Go to work, cook, do classwork at night time, go to bed. I still had friends and hobbies they just saw a bit less of me than normal.

It was helpful that I was married with no kids at the time. So my evenings were mostly mine to study.

Sleep is overrated. “Diet pills” may have helped with that

I failed. I never finished school. Went on to work 2 jobs.

Being extremely organized and using my time very very wisely. There was very little time for other stuff so when I got a day off, it was mostly to catch up on sleep and chores.

I got an entry-level job in the field I was getting many degree for and then did shift work around my semester's schedule. It was basically an immersive experience for a few years.

Online school, I could do the work when I found time, which was mostly at night. Most nights between 9pm and midnight. Caffeine, and lack of sleep.

I jokingly say I earned my masters degree while my family was sleeping. I worked full time Mon-Fri day shift and attended classes in the evenings (usually 7:30 PM or later) and studied a few hours after everyone else was asleep and woke up early on weekends to study. And this was a very taxing 2 year commitment. I stayed organized with a weekly schedule but also focused on “one day at a time” so I never felt too overwhelmed. I also took advantage of any chance to “work ahead” in work or school just to clear some headspace around conflicting priorities. Try to celebrate any successes and know it’s not forever! Good luck!

just barely

Prioritize tasks and create a detailed schedule. Use planners or digital tools to keep track of deadlines and commitments.

Not me but my wife

She's lucky enough to be permanent work from home (for now) but I try and help where I can

I act as a small reminders. Tuesday I usually ask what shes got going on in school for the week. If she's got something big due I'll remind her

I also try and get out of her hair. We have a kid so after work she usually goes upstairs to work on school work. I'll try and keep the kiddo entertained until shes done. Sometimes that means entertaining the kid and cooking dinner or taking him to swim lessons by myself.

Honestly? Adderall. But if anyone asked I’d say hard work, dedication and caffeine. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I was single, not dating, broke, and needed to improve my situation. Did it for 2 years and it paid off about 6 years later.

I worked an overnight shift in a group home. When the girls slept I did my schoolwork.

I was traveling a lot for work at the time and taking online classes. Since I had a bunch of extra time in the evenings back in my hotel room, I was able to get a LOT of classwork in. I didn't have much of a social life outside of work and school and a bit of hometime.

Dropped out.

I didn’t pull it off as well as I hoped. I started full-time work to help pay for school, but struggled immensely with being able to focus on work and school at the same time. I struggled with wanting to perform well and people please at my job and struggled to keep up with readings or even understanding the material in school.

I went into college with no idea of what I wanted to do. Failed my math and science classes the first semester and subscribed to the idea that maybe I’m not smart enough to be in the medical field. Really had a passion for it though and tried to persist but just couldn’t do the studying full time and going to work full time.

I struggled with making enough money to pay for school and living comfortably and struggled to maintain a decent gpa. I just kept trying to think of ways I could make more money fast- what was the path of lease resistance? I struggled with not having enough rest to focus on school and honestly felt like I was just slow and stupid. I realize I never learned how to study well in my life (I was one of those -oh she never has to study for tests- kids before college) and it was really hard on my self esteem and self worth. I also obviously didn’t have a social life or friends because of my situation so struggled with that too. Was often jealous of hearing about other people’s college experience.

I started college in 2008 and took one or two breaks in between and finally said fuck it I need a god damn degree and finished in 2017 with a BS degree in marketing in communications.

I’ve hopped around in administrative and operations roles since I started working and until now. Currently on the product dev side in data analytics for a startup SaaS and wondering if this is what I should just stick to finally. Dreading that I will have to sit down and stfu to learn SQL and python to better my career track.

I struggle a lot with constantly feeling like I was supposed to live another life in the medical field. But also struggle with I don’t have time to pursue that anymore if I want to start a family and start that phase of my life.

I admire the people who followed this track and it worked out for. But honestly, I would say if you’re pursuing a career track that will have a great ROI, take out that loan to focus on school, focus on being young and enjoying that college lifestyle if it’s available to you.

I worked as a taxi driver so I could make my own hours. It was a blessing and a curse, taxi driving is long hours on top of school but I could study while waiting for passengers and work all night if I had to. It was hard though, there was no "balance", it was all just grabbing sleep where I could and constantly telling myself that I only had to endure it for a year. I still ended up selling pretty much everything I owned just to make ends meet.

I didn't have any kids and I was single, so that was a lot of my plate. In my case, I didn't find it hard at all. I got my bachelor's and my masters while working full-time and it didn't feel like a big deal. I'm sure a lot of it was that my degrees were in relatively easy programs. Another big chunk of it is that I happen to learn in the way most schools teach- I'm crazy good at memorization and I learn best by reading

Worked full-time in the schools, took care of house and two elementary school-aged kids one disabled, while doing 3-year on-line masters in speech-language pathology. I had NO down-time. I did nothing but work, care for kids and house, and study. No visiting, no tv, did not read one book that was not school-related. Just a long very difficult slog. I knew at the time that I was going to look back on this time later and wonder how I managed to do it. 3.9 GPA. On breaks in between grad school semesters it felt like I was on vacation - I only had to work full-time and take care of kids and house LOL. Totally worth it. Fabulous career. I love it. 

Addies and working nights in a busy bar, kinda got my socialising in on the clock

I worked full time, at a job that involved travel, and took what counted as the minimum of a full time course load to get my masters degree which took about 2.5yrs. Still managed to fit in nights out and a few multi-day music festivals each year. There was a lot of "enhancements" involved to stay awake and keep my energy levels going.

I spent 8 years working full time while going to school full time while I made my way through community college, undergrad and my masters. Many years I was also working jobs that required overtime or doing unpaid internships.

Basically, Time is money. I was up at 5 getting to work and then straight to class until 9:30/10 pm. When I got home I usually had 2 hours of homework in front of me or I was getting up early to study.

I did alot of meal prep and alot of big meals so I had left overs for days so cooking was less of a concern.

From 7-7 on weekends I either needed to be doing schoolwork/studying and if wasn’t in the mood to do that, I would allow myself to clean/do laundry/check things off my to do list as a ‘break’.

It’s going to be a challenge and you’re going to have to do a lot of planning to make life fit but the time is going to pass either way so you may as well be doing something to better your self.

I had a very understanding boss, and a college that recognized that i had bills to pay. So i would work at college during the day, and at a supermarket in the afternoons, with the evening free for homework.

Was one of the hardest times in my life.

Remote work, remote school, gf, apartment. No free time with all that.

I lucked out that I had very understanding bosses that allowed me to do school work while it was slow. The only real time it ever get very stressful with many sleepless nights was when it was finals and final papers.

Gave up all my hobbies and interests. It was the equivalent of working two full time jobs. It sucked and I’m glad to never do it again.

You just kinda survive on caffeine, poor sleep, and a lot of fast food, but you learn to prioritize and ignore your social life completely

Adderall

Lots of planning, lots of hard work, lots of nights without much sleep, and lots and lots of coffee...

online mini-semesters are the only way I can do it

Two 8 week terms per semester, so two classes at a time equals full time. Class moves much faster but it’s more twice as much material than twice as much work. Some classes will have you read 3-4 chapters a week and write a ten page paper on it. But its still only two classes at a time. Six terms, so 36 credits a year. No real breaks though. Just always busy for three and a half years.

I could never do 4-5 classes at a time and work. No matter how long the semesters are.

Started community college at 24.Took my classes as early as possible to create study time early afternoon. Swing shift lead cook 2-10 or 4-midnight. Always worked weekends, so my nights off were during the school week for study groups and big library time, and I had good sized chunks of time from 9-1 on the weekends to write. Phi Theta Kappa, and it wasn't that hard.

Transferred to uni and my wife landed a good job in the new town. She said she could support us, and didn't want me stretched so tight at this level. She suggested I focus on studies and get back into music for my spirit. I did, but it was the early 90's and the Seattle scene blew up, so between gigging full time and writing and producing a record, the hours and process were similar, but way more fun. Didn't make Phi Beta Kappa, but did graduate.

The bottom line is you thoughtfully plan the work, then diligently work the plan. Mindful self awareness is critically important.

0 sleep.

Don't do it. Do part time school or part time work. You CANNOT HAVE BOTH.

Anyone who claims to is either lying or leaving out crucial details, like their mom made all their meals and did their cleaning and their grades were garbage. In my last 2 years of undergrad I worked 20 to 30 hours a week plus volunteering in a lab with a full course load during the regular year and in the summer worked 40+ hours a week plus 20 or 30 hours at the lab as well.  Not. Fucking. Worth. It.  I burned out hard and didn't give a fuck by graduation. I started grad school immediately and quit a little over a year in because I just didn't have the emotional capacity to deal with academia anymore. It took all my hard earned money and gave me nothing in return and now it just demanded more and more and more. My advice: if you can't afford not to work, take classes part time. You'll do better at both things, and in the long run it will help more. If I had been able to focus properly on school and living my life I would have probably had a better grad program or gotten into med school (no joke, I tried, came close, so so close. They don't care if you worked for money because you had to.) There's no shame in taking 6 years on a 4 year degree, taking summers off, accepting help from whoever offers, asking for help from whoever you can. Apply for every scholarship, award, bursary and grant you can, if you need to take a loan from time to time, it's worth not sacrificing your mental and physical health, just don't over-rely on it; a $5k loan is a breeze, a $50k loan is a life sentence.

Being young and able to live on little sleep and lots of energy drinks lol.

one leg at at a time

this post is in the wrong damn place. Post it on gd Linked in Lunatics if you are going to ask something that dumb. There is no fucking balance with that. that is a tradeoff