SRJC student and EMT academy graduate Sam Loudon was the master of procrastination as a college freshman.

“When I was younger, like in my first year, I would fall behind a lot after putting off my work, which would put me in a lot of difficult situations,” Loudon said.

Unlike in high school, college students like Loudon can create their own class schedules and manage their time how they please. But unfortunately it can be easy to take advantage of this freedom and become lazy.

Loudon began to make better use of his time as he got older. Not just as a student, but in his daily life.

“Life just happens man, but it’s important to become multi-faceted so I could get my priorities straight. I felt life giving me three choices at times where I could only pick two. I wanted to be able to make time for school, work and my social life,” Loudon said.

“Class attendance and time management equal success,” This motto, displayed across Filomena Avila’s whiteboard sums up her philosophy as head of counseling.

“Time management is a critical aspect of being a student,” Avila said.

Avila’s duty as both a teacher and counselor is to help students create “realistic” schedules. Avila wants students to progress in school with a manageable unit load, while also giving students the chance to accommodate their outside responsibilities.

“It is important for students to be honest with themselves. Students who don’t waver from their schedules, get their priorities straight and make use of the school resources will have a much easier time finding success. Students who wait until the last minute to get help in a class they’re failing are not doing themselves any favors,” Avila said.

While Avila emphasizes getting your priorities straight, she understands that students’ priorities are often situational. When you’ve got multiple things coming up at once, she believes it’s important that students identify which responsibilities are “nonnegotiable” and handle those first.

“Time doesn’t stop for school. Students need to decide what’s important to them at the time, and handle it accordingly,” Avila said.

SRJC student Samantha Faye balances a busy job on top of all of her schoolwork, and definitely understands the importance of this skill.

“Time management is very important to me. Even if you’re someone who lacks ambition, I feel you need to have schedules in order to get things done. So I make sure to schedule my time in ways where I can get things done, and still have time to wind down,” Faye said.

Like Loudon, Faye does her best to make efficient use of time management in her daily life.

“I definitely put my schooling as my highest priority, however I make sure to give myself time to relax. I need the chill time because work is so exhausting. If I don’t take time to stop for a bit, it gets harder to stay motivated. It also works the other way where if I take too much relaxation time, I start to feel guilty and it makes me feel that I need to get my work done,” Faye said.

But what happens to people who don’t manage their time?

It’s probably not the end of the world, but Faye has noticed that people who don’t manage their time well make their lives a more difficult than needed.

“I have a few friends and acquaintances who I believe don’t manage their time well. They’re usually late for things or they scramble for things last minute when it could have been avoided. It just makes their lives more difficult and it makes them harder to be around when they do this,” Faye said.

Counselor Filomena Avila reccommends students take advantage of the following resources:

• The writing center is located at 1629 Emeritus Hall

• The Math Lab can be found at Shuhaw Hall in room 1733.

• For more information on tutoring, drop by the first floor of the library, or contact them by phone at (707) 521-6903.

• For counseling information, visit the counseling office on the second floor of the Bertolini Center.