CATCH UP

Ever since I returned from AFLV, I feel like I have been playing catch up. Between school, work, and an attempt at a social life I have been exhausted. I don't know about you, but I get tired of trying to be Superwoman. I see friends and other bloggers post on Facebook and Twitter and I get a little discouraged at how it seems they can get by with a few hours of sleep. Well let me tell you, I slept more on Sunday afternoon than some of these people did over the span of two nights.

I probably did one all-nighter my entire undergraduate career and that was mainly because I felt like I had to. I've come to realize I am too much of a planner to do that. Some people made even made me feel bad for not staying up all night to finish a project. It was like I didn't put as much effort as they did into it. Since beginning grad school and my job, I realize this is very unhealthy behavior. I have a student who pull at least three all-nighters a week. Last year she was President of her sorority, highly involved on campus in a few other leadership positions, completing a very impressive internship, and maintaining a 3.9 GPA. This girl had booked herself so heavy that she felt she had no other option, but to do all-nighters. I asked her at the end of her term what she got out of the experience and she said she was really just glad the semester was over.

This broke my heart for a number of reasons, but the biggest one to me was that she had spread herself so thin that she could not get the full experience from any of her activities. College is about learning a lot of things inside and outside the classroom. That is why it is designed the way it is. I think one of the most important things you can learn during college is to how to say "no." It is such a hard thing to say, especially if is something you are invested in, but you have to realize you are not helping by saying yes unless you can give 100%.