As I enter my first college Spring Break, I am feeling melancholy for a reason I can’t seem to fully describe. No, it’s not because I don’t have any tropical plans for this coming week, but rather because I am feeling the end of my freshman year quickly approaching. Memories of move in day, rush week, and my first nights out with the people I now call my closest friends, all pour back into my mind right now. How did it go so fast? What am I doing with my life? Will I be able to accomplish all the things I wish to at college in now only three short years? These questions do not only express my feelings, but also those of many of my fellow classmates and peers in general.

A few days ago I sat on my friends floor, painting a canvas and talking about life. As I look down at the Pinterest idea I am attempting to mimic, I realized one of my favorite quotes in its full entirety for the first time ever. The quote, taken from one of my favorite movies Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, reads: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once and awhile, you could miss it." I always enjoyed this quote and wrote it all over random notebooks and sticky notes, but never has it applied more to my life than right now.

I feel as though I am constantly chasing time, and I guess that is just how life is. I feel like I should be involved in more on campus but I am already so busy. I want to join more, experience more, but also live more. It feels as though I am trapped in a room with a million different doors labeled different things. Some lead to adventures such as hiking, rock climbing, and whitewater rafting all over North Carolina. Others to more social outings with my sorority and the millions of different events and parties that occur on campus. Then there are the doors that I feel I must follow but once again there are too many options, these last doors include my classes and extracurriculars related to my major. I am pulled in a million different directions and sometimes I struggle but I am here to tell you not to get caught up in it all.

A healthy balance between academics, clubs, and the ever so precious YOU-time is needed. I feel as though going to classes and getting involved is easier because college campuses have so much to offer and our professors are always pushing us to join more and do more. What students forget to integrate into their schedules is time for relaxation and exploration. The free time of a college student does not always and should not always go to binge drinking and napping. It should also be used as a time to step back and examine the world and its many wonders. Hammock on top of a mountain overlooking the Blue Ridge mountains or grab a book on a subject you have always wanted to learn more on, sit by the lake and immerse yourself in it. Take time to de-stress and think about things besides school work and your future career. How are you supposed to know how you want to spend the rest of your life if you haven’t explored outside the four constricting walls of a classroom? Go to museums, national parks, speeches, expos, anywhere and everywhere to explore all things, even those you never thought you would attend.

Open the doors that say explore and discover, you won’t be sorry. We may not be able to slow down the clock but we can slow down our experience. We can sit back and watch the world unfold before us or we can live in the moment and unfold it for ourselves. Don’t chase time, let time chase you.