By Bryan Espinosa
We’ve officially entered adulthood, yet being an adult is not as easy as we thought. Some college students in their first or second year can sometimes lack basic skills. But a real skill that’s hard to master is having a balance. We all try to make schedules for ourselves so that we can have time for school, homework, a job, internships, and, most importantly, a social life. But for student, Paola Martinez Parente, years of experience can come in handy.
As an intern in the office of Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, she is also a full-time New York University Sophomore , as well as NYU Global Equity Fellow, Paola seems to have a hectic lifestyle, but she has mastered balance so well that she has become efficient with her life.
“My Google Calendar is my life, and if it’s not on there I’m probably gonna forget it exists”, said Paola.
As we all try to adjust to surroundings in college, we tend to find ourselves trying to juggle activities and school that we can never give adequate time to either. Some advice Paola has for First-Years students on balance is to “know that if you are doing [school and internships], you are going to sacrifice other parts of your life”. She also has a few tips when it comes to internships, including: “being very active, very involved, almost aggressive about doing stuff” and to “go for what you want”.
So as the daughter of immigrants, and even an immigrant herself, and a resident of Texas, being an intern to a high profile senator couldn’t have been imagined of by Paola, but yet here she is today working hard to maintain her GPA while building a resumé for her future career. How she maintains the balance is something to learn from as we First-Years begin to enter the workforce as interns. It’s only through balance that we can get forward in our college lifestyle. So break out the Google Calendars, because your gonna need them, according to Paola.
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