Attending university has got to be the four (or five) shortest years of a human's life. There are so many opportunities in this world only available to fresh faced eighteen to twenty-two year olds that just cannot be passed up no matter how much is on your plate--and they all must take place in the time it takes to get your BS degree (in both senses of the acronym).
It is so easy to become overwhelmed, overbooked, and burnt out on the very thing you are trying to do for the rest of your life because every move that you make and every strategy prepared is an aim at that ultimate goal; be it doctor, lawyer, social worker, engineer, dental assistant, or Nationwide representative. Packing on so many things to make your resume look flawless might do just that, but the organizations and commitments that you make are most likely not getting your best 100% when you stretch yourself so thin. You might be the president of six different campus organizations, but have you been able to access the phenomenal relationships with your peers in those groups or do you rush out of the room the second the meeting is adjourned in order to sprint to the next? Maybe you are only friends with people in your favorite organization, and you're really missing out on some awesome friendships outside of that membership. Have you taken the time to soak up the phenomenal reality of your accomplishments and all of these things that you work so hard on, or do you jump from the completion of one project to the next?
I'm not saying that building a resume isn't important, because I'm definitely right there on the mid-college life crisis boat with every single one of you. However, it's so incredibly important to realize your time in college is so short and activities and relationships that will have zero impact on your future career but exponential benefits to your mental health and happiness are beyond worth it. Take that intro level art class and watch all of the art majors watch you come in after hours and make your lopsided ceramics. Join the ukelele club and meet some cool new people and pick up a fun skill. Try a new bar or restaurant with that beautiful soul of a friend you met freshman year but haven't had time to meet up with somehow since your sophomore year welcome week. Write articles about your mid-college life crisis for a website run by college students also writing about their mid-college life crisis. Do these things not for your resume or for impressing any other person on this planet besides yourself. I promise it will be rewarding, and you can recenter your focus and come out ready to organize and career prep fresher and more determined than ever.
The world is a beautiful place and you can appreciate that within the realms of your internship, your study abroad, your student government meetings--but there's also a certain charm to spending the whole day in your apartment watching Gilmore Girls with your roommate and not seeing the real outdoors for nearly 24 hours or finding a hole in the wall video game bar just off campus. If putting together a 1500 piece Lego set gets your happy on, then by all means get to work you beautiful architect. A step back or just finding a small thing that floats your boat just because it does and not because it's marketable is a great thing to do for yourself. There are so many places in this life that you're trying to go and you need to meet so many different qualifications to get there, but don't forget to appreciate where you're at while you're trying to get where you're going.
