There are a lot of pressures that come with entering college. For many, this entails balancing work, your social and home life, mental health, and school work all at the same time.
It can be easy to let one or the other fall to the wayside, especially your school work. However, balance is key. While this can be very hard to manage, it is still attainable. It can also be difficult to measure your own success, as it is human nature to compete with yourself (and others).
Elise Stanbury, who graduated from the Fashion Design Program in May said that balance was a large attribute to her success in the fashion design program.
Stanbury, was the captain of track and field and the dance team, was a member of the Blue Key Society, and involved with various other clubs on campus.
Despite having a lot on her plate in addition to her labor-intensive design projects, Stanbury admits that she was still a procrastinator.
“It was really kind of eye opening,” Stanbury said. “For the collection I really had to force myself to kind of get up and out of my dorm to go do things and go be productive.”
Stanbury said that the production lab became her best friend as she worked towards finishing up her products and that she advises every fashion production major to have a sewing buddy to go with.
“I know some nights in the lab it can get very lonely and stressful so, having like maybe a group of friends or a friend that you always go with is super nice because you guys can keep each other sane,” Stanbury said.
Stanbury’s last piece of advice is to put yourself out there.
“Be creative because your senior collection is what you’re leaving Lasell with as your final mark,” Stanbury said. “So don’t think of the first idea, think of the 10th idea.”
Fashion Professor and Program Chair Lynn Blake also had a lot of advice to share on the matter of how her most successful students got to where they are. Her biggest takeaway— you have to want it.
“This is a stage of life for all young people to try and find themselves,” said Blake. “The ones who tend to be the most successful are the students that come in and know that they really want this, because they are willing to meet with the tutors and put in extra hours.”
Dedication and hard work are the key factors that lead to success within your classes here at Lasell. It can sometimes be easy to know you want it, but it is more difficult to make that a reality. As mentioned above, you need to be actively putting the time and effort into your work, and reaching out to people who can help you can help you excel. There are some ways to also manage the stress, as Blake passed along advice for overcoming these challenges.
“I think knowing and being kind to yourself by saying ‘okay, I'm learning right now, I'm going to make mistakes, I'm going to have challenges…’ Any time you're learning you’ll have stretches of like why am I doing this? And it's because you love it. I feel very strongly that on the other side of the struggle period is success.”