The last place that I expected to be at 2 a.m. on a Thursday morning was behind the wheel of my Camry on my way to St. Louis from Columbia, Missouri. But there I was, driving my best friend to catch a 4:30 Amtrak to Chicago.

Part of me was incredulous. What was I doing? I had class the next day, I was running on a Quesarito and a Starbucks Double Shot, and I was sure I would end up getting a headache from the music I was blasting to stay awake.

Yet as we rolled down I-70, navigating through semi-trucks and drowsy road-trippers, I felt more content than I had since beginning college.

By all measures, it should have been a decision I would regret. But I didn’t regret a second of it.

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, or overloaded, or overcommitted, it’s easy to convince yourself that the problem is that you don’t know how to say “no”. It’s easy to blame the stress on an overabundance of activity. This may, in part, be true. But changing this feeling isn’t just about learning to say “no” to the commitments that you don’t want. It’s about learning to say “yes” to the things that will really make you happy.

There’s no better example of this than in college.

Would you feel better if you took the weekend to go visit a friend’s campus? Or went to a painting class instead of a student organization meeting? Or moved your study group to the quad instead of the library? Allow yourself to admit that the answer could be “yes”.

You miss out on so many amazing things if you focus on the quantity of your experiences rather than the quality. The night I drove to St. Louis, there was yet another social event in the dorm. I could have gone – and spent two hours with people I had already become well enough acquainted with. But instead, I got the joy of driving through complete darkness with my best friend while songs reminiscent of middle school dances filled the car.

I got an once-in-a-lifetime experience because I let myself say “yes” to something that logic said I should say “no” to. But sometimes the smart decision isn’t the choice that is going to make you happy.

Sometimes you need to go with your gut. That’s a terrifying concept in college, given that those four years can have a profound effect on what you do with the rest of your life. But it’s an important lesson to learn.

So next time you have the choice to get some sleep or set an alarm to do something new at 2 a.m., set the alarm. Just in case.