Lindsey Graham | Opinion Co-Editor
College students are stretched thin. Very thin. However, I can’t seem to stop making myself stretch thinner and thinner. There are a multitude of aspects that make up a college students’ life.
Besides the obvious classes, homework, grades and extracurricular activities, we also have to worry about jobs, friends, hobbies, family, significant others, working out, eating healthy, planning our futures, and still trying to get the required over eight hours of sleep each night.
With my plate so full, how come I continue to add more onto it? Any time a new opportunity presents itself, I find myself saying ‘yes’ and reworking my schedule to squeeze it in. My eyes must be bigger than my stomach, or rather, my brain.
Imagine a cheesecake, because everybody loves cheesecake. However, you want all the flavors plausible for your cheesecake. Suddenly, the cheesecake is a nasty mess that contains coconut crème, Oreos, cookie dough, strawberries, pumpkin, and every other flavor imaginable. What you have left is one unappetizing disaster. That is my life.
Nevertheless, I still say ‘yes’ to everything. Every single thing.
“Do you want to go to Wal-Mart?” I look at my pile of homework stacked up tall and reply,
“Absolutely!”
“Come hang out, we can do homework together.” The yet untouched pile of homework stares at me as I reply,
“Be there in five!”
An email notification dings:
“Do you want to apply for this conference?”
“Have you thought about joining this club?”
“Come to my office and let’s try to figure out studying abroad next year.”
My fingers type in response faster than my brain can wrap around any practical answer:
“Sign me up! I’ll be at the next meeting! Let me look up airline tickets!”
Why do I lack the ability to say no? I just checked my heart rate. Since it is still beating, I keep going. While I am not dead (yet), I keep convincing myself why I can continue adding ingredients to my cheesecake.
It is a competitive job market out there, and everyone graduating college will be fighting for the same positions, at the same companies, in the same cities. With every opportunity that thrusts itself upon me, it screams that it can build my résumé and differentiate myself from peers.
Or maybe it is because posters around campus and the Internet scream, “Get involved!” with every turn I make. Then I turn my head and I see:
“Make the most of these years, college is the best time of your life.”
“Soon you will be middle-aged and wish you did more when your body still worked.”
We also live in a society where we must have it all. Why? Because it is available for us. You want to be a pop singer, an astronaut, or a CEO? Work hard and you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Even if you want to break the world record for eating the most amount of hot dogs, do it. Do it because you can. Sign up for everything, be busy, and overexert yourself. Push yourself because you are alive and the opportunities exist.
Yet, there are still more reasons I cannot decline the opportunities that come my way. There are relational components to each decision I make. You want me to come to Wal-Mart with you? I have nothing I need to buy, but because you are my friend and I value spending time with you, I find it is important to fit you in my schedule.
I have friends and family that cannot or could not take advantage of the same chances I have had. My mother was not given the same opportunities I have been presented with, so I work hard to pursue an array of activities. I can sit down and have quality time with my mom, telling her stories, and watching her eyes light up as she lives through my experiences.
I do not care how tired or worn thin I am. I would rather be running around like a chicken with my head cut off than lying on the couch. I would rather have a terrible cheesecake of ingredients that should not be mixed together, than no cheesecake at all. At least I tried something different. Next time an opportunity presents itself, you bet yourself I will reply with:
“I thought you would never ask.”
