STORY BY EMILY VANSCHMUS
One of the best parts of Drake is that we, as students, have the ability to be over-involved.
We have the opportunity to join as many clubs and organizations as we possibly can, all at the same time.
Because Drake students come from such well-rounded backgrounds, being over-involved is almost encouraged.
That was a selling point for me when I was looking at schools because I was that high school student who was a part of absolutely everything humanly possible.
In high school, it was easy to be over-involved.
Things overlapped, but it was okay because the yearbook teacher could call the office and get you out of English for the day so you could finish laying out pages before the soccer game in the evening.
Something my high school teacher once told me was, “You can do anything well, but you can’t do everything well all at once.”
I never really found that to be true until I got to college.
The first day on campus I set out to be over-involved. I wanted the chance to be in absolutely everything so I wouldn’t miss out on anything (fact: FOMO is a real thing, people).
I joined several organizations, joined a social sorority, and got involved in three different campus publications, while maintaining two jobs throughout the school year.
It was tricky, but I managed. It was only until this past week that I realized my high school English teacher was right.
I have the ability to do anything I set my mind to, and to do it well. But I can’t be the best at everything when I’m doing everything at the same time.
Because of the larger commitment to college activities, classes and just everything in general, it’s becoming harder to make it all work.
What I’ve learned is that being over-involved is great. It lets you know which organizations you like and which you just feel ‘eh’ about.
Once you know which things are important to you and which you could probably live without, dialing it back a bit allows you to give your all to whatever you decide is most important.
Being fully committed to a few things is far better than contributing a small amount to lots of things just because you can.
