Being in college, I completely understand that people are busy. I, too, am involved in a variety of activities and have to budget my time throughout the week in order to make sure that I am on top of all of my work. I am very wary of how my responsibilities and the things that I am apart of affecting me and my schedule. With that being said, I am also very aware of how the things I sign onto effect those also involved in the same activities.

I think sometimes people forget the impact their decisions and actions have on those around them.

If you choose to commit to something, other people are relying on and you have to honor that.

What often ends up happening is people think that quitting things on the basis of personal benefit is justified because they are doing what they feel will help them in the long run. However, while that train of thought makes sense in their head, it comes off and is incredibly selfish towards the organization you are ditching.

There is no “I” in “team” and if you want to only think about how things affect you, do not join organizations where your role affects other people. Because in the end, when you decide you want to quit, you have now left a whole group of people not only frustrated because they have to figure out how to work with what they have left, but also not wanting to want to work with you again in the future.

With that being said, creating bad relations with organizations can all be avoided by learning how to properly plan. Planning properly means laying out all your responsibilities and figuring out how much time each of these things is going to consume.

Next, you want to prioritize all your different responsibilities and figure out if you can logically dedicate your time to everything you want to be able to do. The key word in the last sentence is “want” because although you may want to be involved in many things, it is important to recognize that getting involved in too many different things can cause you to be less committed to all of them. Further, it’s okay to say no to different opportunities and commitments that come up because the people you are turning down would be more understanding with you being upfront and honest, rather than leading them on and eventually quitting.

I would like to mention that when unexpected events or emergencies come up, it’s understandable if you cannot commit because it is not your fault that those events came up unexpectedly. However, for things that can and should be planned for ahead of time, there is no excuse for quitting midway. I think this is a lesson that many college students need to learn because although we all have our own personal agendas, as people we are often apart of organizations that are bigger than ourselves. Being selfish just doesn’t work in those situations and if that is your mentality, then perhaps you shouldn’t have join the team in the first place.