Everything matters.

This phrase, one of my dad's favorites, seems simple enough in theory. It is easy enough to throw around this phrase jokingly and not really think about what it means. However, if you open yourself up to its deeper meaning, it is a hard idea to wrap your head around— especially as a college student.

So, if everything matters, does that mean it matters what kind of coffee I drink? If so, I hope pumpkin spice is in my favor.

If everything matters, does that mean it matters whether I get up in time to put on makeup and a real outfit for class— or can I just roll out of bed ten minutes before class starts and take my coffee to go?

I guess everything does matter, but on different levels of importance. Maybe what kind of coffee I drink matters, and maybe I should always look put together when I go to class. However, in perspective, these things seem menial.

As a freshman college student, there are a multitude of "things that matter" that take higher priority than coffee preference and outfit choice. In fact, my transition into college has required me to truly take "matters" much bigger than these into my own hands. This transition has provided me with the opportunity to reevaluate and reassert my "matters" in a way that has been highly beneficial to the means by which I prioritize. This experience has allowed me to discover a great deal about myself and how I can make the most of my matters.

My top priorities have always been faith, family, friends and education. I treat each of these like a stock; the more I put into them, the more I expect to get out of them. However, only recently have I realized just how much contribution is required to each of these "stocks" in order for me to optimize my "earnings". After carefully examining all of these "matters," I have come to the conclusion that (surprise) my dad was right-everything DOES matter.

College is a busy time. I have been shocked to find how quickly even my "free" time fills up with schoolwork, club/organization meetings, campus informational sessions and various other responsibilities (including running to the store to buy pads for the Swiffer sweeper-welcome to adulthood.) Therefore, I have quickly come to realize that every second counts. (I know another overused catch phrase that has come to ring true in my life.) As a two-week old college student, I now know how imperative it is to make good habits especially good use of my time, which always seems to fall short in the supply/demand market. I now have to make much more of an effort to check off my to-do list which, on a typical day, includes bible study/devotional time, texting or calling my parents, brother and friends from home and completing all of my schoolwork. I fill the scarce "free" minutes with chores, exercise, social activities and an occasional power nap. Although at some points in my busy days it seems I may never get a break, I encouragingly remind myself of my "matters" and tread on. These days, having all of my affairs in order means a lot more than it used to. Time is of the essence (sorry for yet another catch phrase), and even though it seems I am repeatedly creating and crossing off a to-do list, I find much more gratification completing these tasks in my busy reality than I would if I had all the time in the world.

There is no such thing as "making time." Instead, we must take advantage of the time we have and fill it with the things that are most important to us. Everyone, whether in college or in a four bedroom house with a white picket fence, must learn to be grateful for the time that they have and make sure that their "matters" matter. If I had listened to my dad a little more when he repeatedly drilled the phrase "everything matters" into my head, its meaning may have dawned on me before now. However, I truly believe my orientation into college was the opportune time for me to genuinely understand how "everything matters."