Dear Anita

It’s been awhile since I have been on, but college has so much to learn and experience and I’ve been having lots of fun. Andrew went away to military school, Dave and I lost touch and Steve (my lunch buddy) goes to a college in New York City. I have made lots of friends at college and also see my special friend on campus. He is great at cheering me up when I’m stressed over school work. I saw him today and  I told him how much he meant to me and his face lit up like the sun and we hugged. I have found myself becoming more independent from my parents. I have some questions:

How do you tell your friends that you need time for yourself without seeming rude? I love spending time with my college friends, but sometimes I have to do homework and can’t attend all the events they want me to attend. I try to balance my time between friends and school, but lately my school schedule has been skewed toward friends and club activities.

What are good ideas to do with a person you love? I love my special friend and want to spend some more time with him and start a relationship.

How do you tell someone who disagrees with your career choice that you are truly passionate about it without confusing them and also getting impatient? I am doing a major in biochemistry which will allow me to go into medicine, genetic engineering, neuroscience and I really am passionate about genetic engineering. I want to work with stem cells and help advance cancer research, but my parents don’t think that engineering is a career choice for females. I dislike their view that females can’t be analytical and do complex calculations.

How do I  prevent myself from becoming too overwhelmed with college assignments? Sometimes I’ll map out my plans ahead of time and work on 3 assignments a day to get them done, but that can be a bit exhausting. I check my work five/six times before submitting it and am an extreme perfectionist.