By Karen Gavis/se news editor

Time ticked and the sound of Pink Floyd filled The Galley on NE Campus as students poured in to absorb a time management lecture.

NE history instructor Andrew Hollinger cracked jokes about handling a full load while speaking to a nearly full house in his Managing Your Time Balancing Multiple Roles speech Sept. 2.

“The most valuable resource you have is time,” he said.

Hollinger said students are not preparing for life. Instead, they are already in it. 

He said students should make lists and not begin the day without one. He said they should prioritize objectives and be reasonable in setting goals.

One student in the audience said she was there to figure out how to organize her schedule, fit everything in it and be everywhere.

Hollinger said there was a problem with the word everywhere because it could not be done.

“The struggles we have with everything, we call that life,” he said.

Hollinger said he walked down the hall one day and noticed that instead of hitting on girls, the guys were texting.

“What are you in college for, to text?” he asked.

Computers multi-process, but humans do not, he said. Each interruption, like texting or other added stimuli, reduces effectiveness.

“Learn to say no,” he said. “Go to the library. Go somewhere and study. Turn off the cell phone.”

The audience erupted into laughter on several occasions at some of Hollinger’s jokes.

“Oh, my father has the plague, and that’s why I go to TCC,” he said. “How many of you went out and told everyone you know that you were going to TCC?”

Nobody raised a hand.

Hollinger said TCC is the best, most cost-effective, post-secondary education in America. Most TCC students work more than 20 hours per week to support themselves. He said they have significant family and social obligations in addition to taking a full load of courses.

Hollinger emphasized the importance of work, school, family, sleep and exercise. He said if people don’t have these things, they will lose.

He cautioned students to go to bed early, sober and alone before a test.

“College is about winning,” he said. ”Sooner or later, you have to know stuff.”

NE student Kensey Peresh said she hoped to get tips on how to get it all done in the time she had.

“Sometimes, it’s just so much schoolwork,” Peresh said.

NE student Shelby Runnels said she thought Hollinger was a great speaker. He made her feel she should be proud to attend TCC because the students handle so much more than regular university students.

“He made me really appreciate TCC,” she said. “He made me want to go buy a [TCC] T-shirt.”