For a year now, I have constantly worked toward the next big thing. What activities should I join next semester? What more can I be doing to prepare for post-graduation life? What do I want to be when I grow up?
Why can’t I take a moment to fully enjoy the present?
It’s a snowball effect. Once you become involved on campus, expectations loom large. Activities demand your time and attention. People expect more from you. You expect more from yourself.
For the longest time, I didn’t see my hectic schedule as a problem. Sure, I enjoy being busy. But I have slowly taken less and less time for myself. My days are filled with meetings and schoolwork and clubs, filled with running around to the next thing.
I am exhausted at the end of each day, but there is always more to do. There’s no such thing as being “caught up” once you've overcommitted yourself.
Just recently, I realized something very important. I cannot continue to say “yes” to everything. I have to prioritize what’s best for me. I am no longer thriving in every thing I do. I have allowed myself to grow complacent with certain commitments. Instead of reaching for greater heights, I am simply maintaining so many things that hold such potential. And that’s not who I am.
At the beginning of freshman year, I was enchanted by all of the wonderful opportunities available. I wanted to do so many, and to do them all well. But that reality is becoming harder to attain as time goes by.
As a perfectionist, I have the drive to overachieve at everything I do. I cannot continue to overcommit myself and expect greatness because I let myself down every time.
College should be one of the most fun times of your life. Yes, it is a time of massive transformation and greater responsibilities, but it is also a time to appreciate your youth and have fun.
The point of being involved is to enjoy what you’re doing and to leave a positive impact on your campus through your contributions. I feel like I can leave a much more significant impact if I focus my time and energy on a couple activities that are very important to me rather than giving my time and energy away to several activities that I am not equally passionate about.
Because of this realization I've had, I am determined to take full advantage of the opportunities given to me in college. To me, that no longer means being involved in as many things as possible. It now means that I will strive to better my campus by pouring my efforts into the activities I am most passionate about.
Who knows? Maybe doing less is doing more.
