In high school I thought I had my whole life together, and my resume reflected that. I had all the details of my perfectly planned activities outlined on one crisp piece of paper. Countless hours of community service, leadership in clubs, club sports, internships over multiple summers. After crafting this resume throughout my four years in high school, I figured I would navigate college in a similar way. I couldn’t be more wrong.

When people say college is the real world, they weren’t lying. I suddenly realized that fact just this week as I was sitting in my introductory business class and it hit me that I have no idea what I’m doing with my life. As I’m freaking out, a kind woman from career services is explaining how to create a resume that will attract future employers, and as she showed me an example of another freshman resume, I had the realization that I need be doing so much in order to create that “perfect” resume. I know it’s only two months in to my college career, but the pace is quick. There is no time to wait around, you must become proactive immediately. With that idea circling, my mind started swirling with all these thoughts; I need to get a campus job, but also maybe an off campus job, and get an internship, and be more active in my sorority, and join a business fraternity, and become a member of a major association, and do community service, and and and…

For a minute this all sounded logical, each of these activities mixed together would create the ideal resume which would create the perfect college graduate ready to become a working woman conquering the financial district of San Francisco. The fact that I couldn’t do everything was the part that stressed me out, because I felt like I HAD to do all of these activities in order to be successful. I had barely started my college career, not even diving into my major classes yet, and I already had the feeling and growing fear I was falling behind. My natural response to this fear? I wanted to overcommit.

You know you’re overcommitting when the thought of all your responsibilities, commitments, and classes all in one day make you feel like you’re drowning. This looks like something different for everyone, but throughout my life I’ve luckily rarely experienced this dreadful feeling. But since I've arrived at college, this feeling seems to be hanging around a bit more than usual. The busy and constant schedule I already have, with just classes and sorority obligations, is making me anxious, so how could I possibly handle all those other commitments I felt like I needed to add to my schedule, just to be up to par?

I quickly came to my senses and realized all of this is not physically possible within the seemingly short hours of the day. By committing myself to all these things, I’d be losing out on so many other important college moments, and that constant stress would wear me down to a point where all those activities were no longer enjoyable or worth it. I realized sacrificing the so called “perfect” resume would allow me more time to enjoy my college years, not just pack it full of activities for the good of my post college years.

I’m sure all of you have heard that you should “live in the present” and “seize the day.” These two ideas often seem cliché and unachievable, yet when I kept these ideas in mind, I shifted my focus from how can I "build my resume" to what can I do today that will make me HAPPY and enjoy the life I’m living. So while it may seem important to jam pack your schedule to build that important college resume, it shouldn’t come at the expense of your happiness and mental wellbeing.

So my advice to you is to find what matters to you and what brings you joy in your everyday life, and pursue activities around that passion. After having my resume freak out, I reevaluated what was really important to me right now. Joining a bunch of clubs, organizations, and getting a job is not what will bring me peace and joy in my already busy schedule. For now, I’m going to continue readjusting to the whole college thing and enjoy the meaningful things I’m apart of now. I still have four more years here and plenty of time. So to everyone who is in college whether you are a first semester freshman or graduating senior, just remember that it’s hard to feel like you are lagging behind or aren’t doing enough, and it’s really easy to want to overcommit just to build that resume. But this is your life, and college is your time to enjoy the opportunity to be in an amazing place, with amazing people, and with endless opportunities for true happiness. So don’t let the fear of not being good enough for your future career paralyze you today. Maybe let go of the things that stress you out, or that you don’t want to go do when you wake up in the morning. Once you release the idea of the “perfect” resume from your list of college goals, you will be able to truly embrace those meaningful things that will change your life for the better.