If you don't know what is meant by the phrase, "The Carolina Way," don't worry you'll figure it out before long, and if not I've got you covered. Also, I'd just like to preface this entire shebang by saying that this is not merely a UNC epidemic, this mindset infects the entire millennial generation.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering what do I mean by the Carolina Way and why should it be of any concern to me. Well, for starters, the Carolina Way is the strongly held mindset by UNC students that we need to be involved in as many clubs or organizations as possible on top of taking a full course load and having multiple internships. Basically, we must be living, breathing resume boosters. In and of itself, that sounds like a relatively good thing, but more often than not, it's taken to the extreme and does more harm than good.

For example, this semester I am involved in three on-campus organizations, enrolled in 13 credit hours, working eight hours per week and attending church on a regular basis. In statistical comparison to other semesters where I was involved in four or five organizations, enrolled in nearly a full course load, and still working and attending church, my semester should be a walk in the park. The truth is though, this has been my most stressful semester to date, and we are only in week four. No, I'm not taking any classes that many would consider to be ridiculously difficult like biochemistry or organic chemistry but that doesn't mean my classes aren't just as hard.

Why is this type of mindset so concerning? That's an easy one. It puts too strong on an emphasis on being the best and doing the most that you can to the point of mental, emotional and physical detriment. Our society tells us to succeed in life we have to do x, y and z while still finding time to eat, sleep and be social. News flash: it just isn't possible.

Do you remember that triangle we all used to joke about from high school? The one where the corners said good sleep, good grades, and good social life and it said you can only pick two. Our society has taken that and it is now no longer a joke, it is actual reality. We've gone from being in the present and living for the moment to killing ourselves planning for tomorrow.

This mentality is the devil in disguise because it makes us feel good for a moment, and those of us who thrive off of being busy strive to attain it, but each us falls victim to it in the end. If we fail to reach the uncanny standard that society places on us we feel inadequate and as if we can't measure up to those around us. Pluralistic ignorance causes us to fail to see that we are each suffering trying to reach a standard that is far higher than any one person can logically reach without driving themselves to the breaking point. So let's stop allowing ourselves to be fooled into feeling insecure and insufficient over what we are and aren't doing to booster our resumes.

How can we change our mindset? Well, there first must be a pebble that causes the ripple effect. That's my desire for this article. If only one person reads this and realizes that they no longer have to be defined by the lack of sleep you get because "sleep is for the weak" and "there just isn't enough time in the day." We have to start living for the moment we are in and start focusing on being here now.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience."

We fail to live by this quote when we stat stuff our schedule to the point where we barely have time to hang out with friends or go out and experience the day we've been granted.

Maybe I'm being naive and don't understand the demands of the real world, but that's OK! Right now is the time we are supposed to be making memories to last a lifetime and making mistakes that we'll laugh about later, not barricading ourselves in a four by four box of a cubicle on the eighth floor of Davis Library because we have a paper due in three hours that we didn't have time to even think about until right now.

The future may be calling, but we have the choice to take a step back and let it go to voicemail for a little while longer so we can be in the moment. Let's stop letting society's expectations cause us mental and emotional distress. We aren't granted tomorrow so why are we spending so much time planning for it?

"Life is a journey, not a destination." ― Ralph Waldo Emerson