All of my life I have tried to get myself involved in many things to stay busy. My involvement led me to be so invested in so many activities that I loved to keep adding more and more to my already busy schedule. Although taking on huge responsibilities and commitments sounded like a great plan, in the beginning, I am now understanding what it means to be overly committed and involved in many activities on campus.

In high school I maintained a 4.5 GPA while being a three-sports athlete. If I was not at volleyball, swim, or lacrosse practice then I could be found doing events with the National Honors Society, the Spanish Honors Society, the Global Studies club, the Spirit Club, and so on. If this isn’t an indication that I like to keep myself busy then I don’t know what will.

As a freshman in college last year I got myself involved in all that I possibly could in order to build strong relationships with my peers, as well as faculty and staff members. I thought that managing my time would be similar to that of high school but boy was I in for a rude awakening. I realized that the things that I involved myself in required a big commitment on my part but I was willing to take that risk.

In addition to being a student-athlete I was also actively involved in my school’s activity council and the judiciary committee. Over the summer I got the necessary training to be an orientation leader and a Resident’s Assistant for this upcoming year. I am super excited and thrilled to be part of such amazing organizations, but it is getting harder to manage my time. All is well when I am able to take it day by day and fulfill the obligations that I have to my commitments. It isn’t until things start to overlap that I realize that I may have taken too much on my plate.

I also recently got the opportunity to become the Editor in Chief for my school’s chapter of the Odyssey. I did not receive the call in an ideal time of my life, but it was something that I could work with. After learning more about the position I knew that this was not an opportunity that I could miss, so I took on yet another responsibility.

It wasn’t until this past week that I understood that being involved is great, but it is also okay to not take on as much responsibility. It is, in fact, okay to say no when another opportunity to get involved comes your way. When you start to get involved in everything it becomes really hard to manage your time and take some time out of the day for yourself.

I am here to tell you, the overcommitted person, that it is indeed okay to take a step back from all of your involvements and to say no as needed from time to time. It is important that you have the time to commit to the things that you want to remain actively involved in while having the time to commit to yourself as well. Having time to yourself goes way beyond finding the time to do the next homework assignment or study for the upcoming tests that you may have. It is important that you allow yourself the time to relax and take a much-needed break from things because you deserve it.