First Week of Spring Classes at Princeton
How to describe my first week of spring classes? Easy?
It is only so for now. Princeton’s add/drop period, which many students dub our “shopping” period, is a time when you can “try out” a potential class or classes that you’re including in your schedule. Due to the lower level of commitment, the workload is fairly light for the first two weeks. Once the third week begins, many classes get harder, and the true rigor sets in.
I would say it’s for the best. You learn a lot, you grow a lot, and sometimes, depending on how you manage your time—you might stress a lot. I’ve learned to block off my own time to the minute, and I use two apps for this. One is Structured, and the other is Zinnia. Structured is a digital daily planner that allows you to plan your day hour by hour, or in my case, minute by minute. Its layout is clean, simple, and easy to use. It integrates across all of my devices: Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and is my go-to for meticulously planning out my days and weeks throughout my semester. I used it in my last semester at Princeton, and it was a lifesaver when it came to figuring out my study time and break periods; it reminded me of when to go to events I had scheduled on campus, etc. It is a calendar, planner, and task manager all wrapped into one.
The free version is limited, but the paid version is extremely budget-friendly. Structured PRO monthly is $2.99, Yearly is $9.99 and Lifetime is $29.99. Not bad, right? Of course, I have the lifetime subscription, as I believe I’ll use it for years to come.
Example schedule on Structured
The second time management app that I use is Zinnia, which is a digital planner and journal. I once flitted between many different types of physical planners to try to map out my assignments, but I soon realized that I needed something that I could shape to my own ends—something completely custom. Zinnia fulfilled that need by allowing me to have a blank slate for a journal that I could completely manipulate. Sometimes, I use the pre-loaded templates; sometimes, I simply use frames to block out the text of my upcoming assignments for the semester. I also used it to fully see whether it would be a good idea to revert to freshman status and do an extra year at Princeton or complete my studies at the university in four years. Zinnia is also extremely low-cost for its paid version, which is $3.99 weekly, $9.99 monthly, and $39.99 per year. I purchased the yearly version after trying it out for a week and have loved it ever since. I’ve been using it for a little over a month, and it has been my go-to app for reviewing what I have on my syllabus for my classes.
First 2 weeks of French Class on Zinnia
Semester syllabus of History Class on Zinna
No, neither of these apps is sponsored. There is also no affiliate marketing involved; I just genuinely like the products.
As I mentioned previously, I’ve made the decision to revert and do an extra year, despite being a transfer student who has already done two years of college previously, because I want to take advantage of all of Princeton’s opportunities. I also wanted to give myself some much-needed space to really think about what I wanted to be in the future and what I wanted to do with my life. Yes, I am the co-author of 30 books, and that affords me a wealth of experiences at Princeton that are truly eye-opening. I am part of two prestigious clubs; I’ve been to the headquarters of The New York Times and Penguin Random House, and I’ve talked directly to Audible during a short winter internship called a Princeternship (because it’s organized and arranged by Princeton and hosted by alumni). I’ve caught the interest of two very prestigious banks and participated in JP Morgan’s and Goldman Sachs’ virtual recruitment programs, which have been very insightful and humbling experiences.
All of this has made me rethink what I was doing in life and what I could do in the future. Naturally, my calling is more academic. I applied to Princeton because I wanted to study Japanese. I went more into the specifics of my original trajectory in a previous blog post, so I won’t continue to speak on it here. However, I’ve come to the realization that if I were to do a 6-year Ph.D. program in something that I’m passionate about and then become a full-time professor, then I would have aged out on the marketing for dating and marriage. By that, I mean I would be completing my PhD in my mid to late thirties. That’s not bad, considering academia is a long career, but I am acutely aware that I am not male, and the choice to have a family or get married is a deeply personal one that I can’t turn the clock back for as a woman.
It has put me at something of a crossroads in terms of entering a career. Academia makes the most sense in terms of career prospects but would be detrimental if I were to start a family during the rigorous requirements of a Ph.D. program. Moving from that, I could enter publishing, which is the field I am most familiar with and very passionate about, but their payout is very undesirable. I could enter finance as I have experience in that sector, only due to the introductory recruitment programs, but it would be purely for money, and I can’t see myself working 70 to 100-hour weeks just for a paycheck. I think I would burn out in the first month and be put in very dire straits mentally. I could go into consulting, which seems to be a pretty viable option right now, but I have to do more research on what that career might actually entail.
I do have one thing, other than this blog, that I’ve been working on. I created a website over a week or two ago called D.J. Hoskins Ivy, which is focused on helping high school students write a book to add to their college applications as an extracurricular. It is book coaching with the intention of helping students get into their top schools. It just launched, and my brother and I are about to lean into promotion for it soon, which we’re excited about. I’m looking forward to coaching clients, helping future customers with their college application essays, and aiding them in cultivating their book ideas.
Entrepuership seems like a very viable option moving forward to cement myself in a career that I enjoy and am passionate about while also bringing value to others in a positive way that leaves an impact on their lives. If I can sell books in the process, then all the better. If you must know, and I suppose you have already guessed, my end goal in life is to become a famous author.
The idea of “What do you want to do with your life?” Has already been something I feel I’ve been doing for at least a decade. I am an author. That is my career; that is my life—whether it makes money or not.
Hello! We’re D.J. Hoskins
We are Davena and Jason Hoskins, co-authors of 30+ books and siblings who write under the pseudonym D.J. Hoskins. Three years apart and in our twenties, we have been fascinated by stories from a young age. Davena is a student attending Princeton University, and Jason attends Georgetown University.
