Not so super

Last year was just too good.

In fact, it really spoiled me. In August 2007, I inaugurated my college career, starting fresh with new academics, extracurricular pursuits and socialization. Don’t get me wrong, this fall has proven to be anything but a downer. I’ve loved my classes and I couldn’t be happier seeing old friends again while meeting new people.

But I have a bone to pick with the third part of my life: those extracurricular activities. My last-year habit of picking up every activity that came my way has accustomed me to a standard of living I can no longer support. What I have to say next might come as less of a surprise to readers who are more plugged into reality.

But for me it’s been shocking: I can’t do them all. Some campus groups will have to forego my presence.

I doubt any of them will be worse off without me, but it almost kills me to think of all the enrichment they offer that I will be missing. Worst of all, I can’t blame anyone else for my situation. Like a true junkie, I fuel my own addiction. I am just too aware of everyone having a call-out meeting, offering a special job or wanting help advertising for the new club they’re opening. I must be signed up for every listserv on campus, and the time I spend deleting all the e-mails they issue almost doesn’t leave me enough time to glance at the chalkings under my feet as I walk to class.

Even more detrimental to my sanity, I stopped by the activities fair this Tuesday in the Union parking lot, ostensibly to drop by the Indiana Daily Student booth and visit a few friends tabling for their own organizations. Yet, as I walked through the maze of organizations, I couldn’t help but take mental notes on all the ones offering something interesting. Shamefully, I found myself “just saying no” but a single time: when someone from CRU table offered me yet another one of their surveys.

As I’ve talked to other sophomores, I’ve come to realize this problem isn’t just my own. More than a few of us have had so much fun at school that we’ve kept piling on things to do until we find that the 24 hours each day gives us simply aren’t enough to get it all done. I never knew that could happen. I had planned on being superhuman.

I’ve always imagined being busy throughout life: filling each day to the brim with plans and only cramming everything in by the sheer force of my willpower and ability to forgo a decent amount of sleep. But now that I’ve actually eliminated all my free time, I feel more sleepy than super. Once again, I’ve had to redefine what my college education means to me. For today, I think I can say this: Being engaged might not make me more unique than everyone else, but at least it will keep me from having time to regret even a minute of the next three years.