We have all heard it all before. We may have even said it. It’s the trite, “I’m so tired, I only slept three hours last night” bit. These bits become so common they construct a new normal for us college kids. In this new normal getting any more than five hours of sleep becomes a luxury and having time for anything besides resume building activities is just a far-fetched dream. In this new normal, we stand around in circles and try to one up each other based on how busy, stressed out, or hopped up on coffee we all are. We carry around planners, agendas, and calendars like Bibles and tell friends we will see when we can “pencil” them in. We forget birthdays, rush through phone calls with family, or simply forget to eat because we are so busy trying to get ahead.

Somewhere in the span of my three years of college, I have watched my friends and myself become that person. It’s terrifying to see who we can become when, for the most part, there are no real careers, money, or loss of assets are on the line. In college, we are still simply kids in suits. We have a basic understanding of the world and what’s at stake yet somehow have shirked some of the more intensive paradigms of being an adult. We probably could figure out how to do our taxes but mom says not to worry about it. We probably should know when to take our cars to the mechanic for an oil change but dad said he would do it for me. We get the opportunity to pick and choose when we want to be adults. All the responsibilities of the big, ominous adult world haven’t set in yet. So why are we all in such a hurry to be the classic ‘too busy for you’ adult? Why do we think that being too busy for fun makes us appear successful? Why are we more willing to brag about our busy schedules than our relaxing weekend at home where we found peace?

We have to stop glorifying being too busy for sleeping, eating, and hanging out with friends. On top of the fact that getting enough sleep is extremely important for your physical and mental health, it also keeps your brain functioning so you can get the grades you have been striving for. When we glorify this behavior, it becomes normalized and no one questions anymore why their friends have seemed to fall off the face of the earth. When the truth is, what we have now is an opportunity. An opportunity, I like to call, “half- adulting” and it will never happen again. We will never be in the same place with some of our best friends in the heart of a cute, small city again. We will never get to wake up every Saturday of fall semester with the tinge of excitement in the air for another FSU win. There won’t always be as much time and disposable income as there is now to go on weekend trips to see your best friend at UF or have brunch in Thomasville. These opportunities will pass you by because before you know it, its time to be a real adult and real adults don’t get summer vacations to unwind and have fun.

So, yes, be busy. Build your resume and work hard towards an incredible future but be present. They didn’t say college is the best four years of your life for nothing; make sure you find out why.