When you’re in high school people tell you that college will be the best four years of your life. Your counselors and teachers implore you to do as many internships and get as much experience as possible. “You have so much time!” they tell you. They lied. Sure, four years may sound like a lot, but when you’re in the thick of it you’ll blink and 2 years will have gone by. I’ve noticed that there’s this pressure put on college students to make the most of their time and take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way but it isn’t as easy, or even plausible, as they make it seem. To be fair, when you’re in high school you’ve still got stars in your eyes so it isn’t always easy to understand the reality of being in college until it hits you.
But even in college, I’d argue that this mindset still persists. Even if you can recognize that you have much less time during your average day than you initially thought you would, you may be blinded by your ambition in your quest to do everything. For instance, we’re told that we should have as many internships as possible to put on our resumes. That’s fair. It does show that you’ve gotten real-world experience. But are the ones you have access to paid or unpaid? Are they providing you with housing? Are they far from your school and/or home? Do you need to be enrolled in a course to track these internship hours? For those of us that would have to save up an enormous sum of money before just one internship, this is not an economical option, especially when the good internships are further away.
Another aspect of this “do it all” mindset is the accompanying feelings of burnout. There will likely come a time in your life as a college student that you’ll feel as if you’ve taken on too much. You’ll be wading in homework up to your ears, be locked into a job, and have to fulfill any of your other commitments. It will feel as if there’s no end in sight, no light at the end of the tunnel. You may find yourself wondering, “Where’s that grand social life people told me about?” When you only have time for work and school, it can be hard to feel like you’re having the college experience people assured you you’d have. You have to say “no” to dates, reschedule outings with friends, and stay up to do homework when you might rather just be in bed. But there is one good thing to come out of this. You’ll start appreciating every free moment you get. You’ll take those opportunities to do little things you’ve been thinking about but haven’t had time for. Personally, I use my free time to cook or bake. That way, I’ll have something to get me through the week and remind me that it will come again. Obviously, this free time can be spent in whatever way you want so long as it makes you happy and relaxed.
If you’re feeling like you’re not doing everything you should be during your time at college, it’s important to realize that you’re not the only one AND that the notion that you should be doing everything in college is ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is the idea that college will be the best years of your life. You should still be having fun but it’s good to remember that if you’re doing things right, you’ll enjoy the various stages of your life and college isn’t the last time you’ll get to have fun. Chances are, the real fun will come afterward and you won’t have to worry about being burnt out from some backward notion about how you should spend your college years.