I admit, I may have a bit of a…problem. Well, it’s not really a problem, per say, but it could become one in the future. Okay, let me start at the beginning.

I haven’t always been that productive of a person; over the last couple of years, however, compared to my friends, I’ve become obsessively productive. Working, schooling, volunteering, etc, it seems like I don’t give myself much of a break except to sleep. A lot of adults who take the time to get to know me really applaud me and say that they wish they had been as smart and mature at my age as I am, which is nice, to a point. I mean, it’s nice to know that I’m on a good path toward success, but I also feel like I’m missing a big part of the “college experience.”

Okay sure, I’m not that much of a “college guy” to begin with, mostly because I see all the partying as a foolish waste of time. I’d personally rather sit down with a group of close friends and discuss politics. The thing is though, I’m not available to hang out with my friends when they’re usually available on the weekend.

I go to college full-time maintaining a GPA around 3.8+, and I work 38.5 hours a week every Thursday through Sunday. I work so much in order to pay for school. I do apply for scholarships, and I do get some. I’m also lucky enough that it doesn’t take many scholarships to cover the cost of going to my college, but that was just my choice to pay less for the same IU degree I would have gotten at Bloomington. But truth be told, even if scholarships did cover all of my school expenses…I still wouldn’t stop working so much.

And this is my dilemma, I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I’m not even working so much to have money to spend- the majority of it sits there and accumulates in my bank account! I can’t complain, I make around $20,000 dollars a year at my job (which is much more than most undergrads can say), but I also feel like I’m at the very least missing out on quality time I could be having with my friends.

Despite all of the busy time I have, I do have a healthy amount of free time, which I use for Netflix, sleeping, and hanging with friends (when available). I am elated that I have been able to remain the closest of friends with my best friend since seventh grade (he goes to another school in South Bend). So, it’s not like I’m never seeing my friends, it’s just that my weeks are filled with school, and my weekends are filled with work. And low and behold, most of my friends coming home for the summer work their summer jobs during the week when I’m available, and hang out on the weekends when I’m not!

I took on this writing job with Odyssey back in December, and I took it on while working and schooling full-time, (I’m still doing it to this day). This summer, I plan to use a lot of the time that’s not being filled with class to help campaign for the candidate I want to see in the House of Representatives this January.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m planning to go to Seattle on vacation for about a week this summer (shoot! Have to get those plane tickets!). So I do mix some down time and fun with friends in there, but the majority of the time, I’m just “go, go, go!”

I guess it comes from my incessant need to build my resume and network with other professionals, which is not a bad idea by any means. And I don’t just accept anything that walks along, I pick and choose what I want to do, so I’m not unhappy by all the work that I do, nor am I ashamed of the high quality with which I produce what I do.

I just wonder, am I doing things right? I mean, I have yet to meet another person who is my age and doing all that I’m doing; it kind of makes me stand out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m okay with standing out for the right reasons, there are no complaints there. But I don’t know if I’m progressing “too fast,” or if I should just chill out for a while. But, the honest truth is I can’t chill out! I consider what I do to be far too important, and far too fulfilling to stop.

I’m not complaining, I’m just confused! If I’m doing things “right,” then why aren’t there hundreds of thousands of other people my age doing the same thing? Granted, I must understand that not everybody is coming from the same situation I am, and I must realize that I’m already taking this all to the extreme. But I know people who aren’t working a single hour a week, who pay for their entire schooling with loans, and who, quite honestly, are just lazy. (Did little Democrat boy just say lazy people exist?) Yes, lazy people do exist, but most people on government assistance are not there due to laziness (but that’s a topic for another day). They could get a part-time job on campus; I mean, they’re always available, but I suppose if getting wasted every weekend is more important to you, then be my guest.

But honestly, I don’t mind adults calling me “exemplary,” or saying “I wish I had done that at your age.” This is just how I was raised, and I suppose I do see the importance of thinking forward, knowing that these next three years are going to whiz by without a “how-do-you-do,” and I had better be prepared to make a smooth transition from college into the workforce.

It’s just hard when you don’t have time to hang out with friends as much as you’d like, get to know new people, date, take a load off for its own sake…really I think it’s just a trade off. Maybe I’m not doing things “right,” but perhaps I’m doing things “well,” and if anything, I suppose that’s fine by me.