In college, you are thrown into this brand new world with endless possibilities. You have so much free time, but so much to do all at the same time, this makes it very easy to over schedule yourself.Something that is hard for me to understand is the fact that I cannot do everything and be everywhere I want to be. If it were up to me I would probably be in every club and go to every dance class that Georgia College offers, but in reality I can't. We only have 24 hours in a day and I need at least 7 of those for sleep and another 4 hours in class leaving me with 13 hours to everything else I need to do including eat. This seems like plenty of time, I mean 13 hours you can do so much with that. By my first month of college, I was already in a sorority, Campus Outreach, GC Miracle, the Odyssey and in the dance program. I was swamped everything was overlapping. I am a very organized person when it comes to scheduling. My planner is color coded based on event and class. When I began to write everything down that I had scheduled for the upcoming months I panicked I didn't know how I could go to every meeting, every study hour, every dance class and rehearsal and still have time to study and sleep. I felt like I was in a real life game of tug of war being pulled in every direction until I was split in half.

I then realized the importance of saying no. No isn't just an important phrase when it comes to drugs and sex but also with people. Whether it be to a friend, a coworker, or a family member you cannot do everything and if you say yes to everyone you will spread yourself so thin that you break. Prioritizing is one of the most important skills to have in college. You have to figure out what is important to you and how to spend your time wisely. As much as I would like to be a part of every club on campus, have a job, be in every show, go to every Delta Zeta intermural game I just can't. College is hard and freshman year is very overwhelming. There are so many awesome opportunities that you have the chance to take advantage of but one of the worst parts is that you can't do it all, but that's okay. One thing I had to learn is just because I tell someone I can't do something doesn't mean that they're going to hate me. People get it. We are all humans. No one can be everywhere at once and that is okay.

Sticking to your no is also very important. Once you've mustered the courage to tell your friend, family member or coworker no you must stick to your guns. You can't let someone manipulate you into doing whatever it is they are asking of you. No means no. You know your schedule and if you don't feel like you can do something don't do it. No is respectable. No means that you understand that you can't give yourself fully to something and that means that you aren't the best person for the job, so don't do it. Also, no is a complete sentence. You don't have to explain yourself.

Now I am not telling you to say no to everything. Do things, if you say no to everything you're doing nothing and that's boring. Finding the perfect balance of being involved but not overextending yourself is the key to success.