Starting the new semester and the new year, it is easy to get caught up in all of the promise and excitement for new opportunities that this time holds. You may have resolved to take on another leadership position, or to commit to exercising an hour every day, or to join a club or two that you've always meant to attend the meetings for, or to make more home-cooked meals, or to go through the notes you took in class every night, or to spend your Sunday mornings at church, or...
Do you realize how overwhelming all of this sounds, clumped together in one sentence? If you take each segment on its own, it is completely manageable to join a club. It is a good idea to revisit the notes you took during your lecture. But it isn't possible to do everything all at once. Maybe you'll be able to maintain such a hectic schedule for a couple weeks, maybe even a month. Eventually, though, you will hit a point where your activities will collide, no longer in harmony with each other due to their sheer number, and you will most likely end up unsatisfied with all of them. You'll be unable to devote yourself deeply to any one of them in an attempt to do everything because you've spread yourself too thin. I've been there firsthand. I know this. This past semester I was running cross-country for a D1 team, was taking half of my technical engineering classes as honors, was involved in a research lab, had a time-consuming photography course, wrote for the Odyssey, was adjusting to apartment living (did you know cooking eats up a bunch of time? Pun intended), and was still trying to get enough sleep and maintain a social life. By December, I was exhausted, unsatisfied with my grades and entirely ready for the semester to just be done. So trust me on this.
Instead, what you should do is pick a few key components of your life--I would suggest three big things--that you really pour your soul into. Things that you are passionate about, the keystones to your life. It's pretty much a given that as a student, school is one of the big three. The other two are up to you, and whatever they may be--a sport, your job, a research position, taking on an active role in greek life--make sure they are important to you. Take the time to analyze, why am I here? What would my life be like if I weren't here? Asking yourself these two questions will pinpoint the meaning behind the dreams you chase and make yourself confident in your decisions.
Overall, the key takeaway here is to go deep, not wide. Don't brush the surface of a large area, take the time to really explore and exhaust a small section. Take away all that an experience has to offer. And don't feel stuck in your current situation. Your three priorities aren't set in stone. If you realize you aren't satisfied with the answers to those questions you asked yourself earlier, there's no one to tell you that you can't change the direction you're headed in. That's the most wonderful thing about your life and your plan--you're in control of it and can take it wherever you desire.
