When you're in college, it can be so easy to let school run your life. I mean, why shouldn't it? We pay A LOT of money for college here in the States. To most of us, the idea of not prioritizing school over our personal lives seems obscene. We want to make sure that we are "getting bang for our buck," so to speak. This is important. You SHOULD be trying your best in college. You SHOULD be striving to get good grades—to learn as much as you can learn. However, there comes a point when we need to realize that there is more to college than grades.
We college students need to realize that our health matters. IT MATTERS. I am literally the worst at accepting this. I go to bed late, I skip meals frequently, I drink a lot of coffee, I avoid most forms of exercise like the plague. I have realized in my two years in college that it's so easy to forget to take care of yourself. But you only get one body on this earth. One. Uno. You NEED to take care of it.
I also know how easy it is to trade in your social life for your grades. I am a music major, so I have a ton of rehearsals, concerts, recitals, and my own practice time that I need to account for every single week. To my remorse, these things get in the way of my friendships. The amount of times I leave a social gathering with the parting words of "I need to go practice" is actually depressing. News flash, my dear people: there is a time for practicing, but there is also a time when we need to set those kinds of things aside to be with friends. There is a time for school work, but there needs to be a time away to relax.
It is so important to remember that we only get to live this life once. One of the worst things that can happen is waking up one morning and realizing that there are so many more things that you wanted to do, but you never "had the time". So make the time. Go on that date. Go for a walk. Watch that movie. The school work will be there when you get back.
College is a delicate balance that is easily disrupted. Often it is a give and take situation. Give some social time, take away some sleep time. Somewhere in the frenzy of trying to fit everything in, we need to realize that we can't always fit everything in, and that is OKAY.
You are only 20 once. You are only a college freshman or senior ONE TIME.
Live it up.
