It is springtime and you know what that means—revisit days! As I rush from one class to another, I notice the groups of prospective students. The students walk as far away from their parents as possible as to seem independent and grown up, and sick of listening to their parents compare GWU to NYU and Cornell and Hopkins and places like that. It causes me to flash back to my visit day. I came during the summer, when most of the colonials were walking around in their business attire, coming to or from a job or internship. The tour guide made it a point to emphasize the “huge amount of internship opportunities that are provided here at GW”. It sounded thrilling, and my parents were very relieved that their 52K would be put towards a guaranteed job after college… or would it?
As most of you apply for summer jobs or internships, you are probably noticing that DC internship and job opportunities have very competitive programs. That’s fine, because we go to GW! We have professors who are also full-time workers at the State Department, the White House, the World Health Organization, etc. Our school is well-known for it’s phenomenal education and it’s constant drive to Do Good with thousands of hours of community service. We think that all of this will help us, but we cannot rely on GW’s reputation in order to succeed. We need to be well-rounded, we must be involved in extra-curricular activities, we need job experience, and our GPA better be damn good. It’s all about your resume.
This is where students struggle. No, I’m not referring to the strict resume and cover letter format. I’m talking about the process of building a resume. Before coming to GW, I was an interior architecture student. I did not have any time for an internship, and with the amount of all-nighters spent in the studio, there was no way I would ever be able to wake up for a job, let alone work for eight hours on a weekend. Internships were what my fifth year would be for. I could not join a Greek organization, because they would kick me out due to lack of involvement. Hell, I was so busy that sometimes I did not even have time to work out, and I would forget to eat (if you know me, that’s shocking). The only things present on my resume were high school community service, activities and job experiences.
Since coming to GW, my resume has grown significantly. Last year, I joined a Greek organization, and served as Director of House Management. This year, I joined a program called Health Leads where I volunteer at a hospital. In December, I organized a GW branch of Her Campus that must be updated multiple times every week. Recently, I got a babysitting job for a Psychology professor here at GW. I also applied and qualified for a minor in Public Health, and declared my International Affairs concentration in Global Public Health. I think this is a lot, but I know people who are involved in even more than I am.
Being involved is great, but when does involved become too involved? When your grades slip, that’s when. I have found myself in this mess of a filled resume, with no time to commit to my studies, my Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays do not end until 8 pm, and my Tuesdays and Thursdays are spent doing everything I can’t do on MWF. Then the weekend comes—only Saturday and Sunday—and I have Greek Life commitments and even more papers to write and exams to study for. I don’t have time to be the 3.8 GPA student that I’d like to be, and for me, grades always come first.
What it comes down to is time management and prioritizing, some things that I hope you all have better luck with. There is this obsession with being perfect, or never being perfect enough. We want to be constantly building our resume and getting involved in more things and taking on more responsibilities. But there is a point where all of these commitments get to be too much. We are not superheroes. We are human beings. We cannot save the world, and we cannot do five million things at once. So take a step back and see if you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. Try to prioritize your commitments in regards to which will be most influential on the goal that you’re trying to reach (this goal is usually an occupation). Consider possibilities of compromise. Perhaps you can cut your hours at your job, or find a job on campus where you can get your work done. If you have a leadership position in an organization, maybe you can share your position with another person, and split the responsibilities.
There will always be a solution to the madness of over-commitment, but it’s probably better to avoid it altogether, if possible. Taking too much on at once takes a toll on not only your grades, but also on your health. Stress leads to a weak immune system and anxiety that could be avoided. If you’re finding yourself overwhelmed with everything you have to do, consider taking a weight off your shoulder. If you think that you have a decent amount of commitments, perhaps you should consider the way in which you are distributing your time.