Margo Ellis, News Editor
Wake up. Shower. Breakfast. Class. Break. Study. Lunch. Class. Lab. Study. Meeting. Practice. Work. Gym. Sleep.
In the busiest, most overwhelming parts of the semester, I tend to fall into the same schedule each day of the week. My body knows what task I’m supposed to be doing and gets frustrated if I’m doing something else. This schedule is predictable, unmanageable and destructive.
At Denison, students are often encouraged to pursue involvement in a handful of activities that interest them, while working a part-time job, taking a full-time course load and maybe even playing a club or varsity sport. I felt this pressure from the moment I applied. Forms asking what clubs, events and activities I was interested in filled my newly activated “@denison.edu” inbox.
Almost three and a half semesters later, that pressure has built and is ready to burst.
I know many other students in similar situations. Bright-eyed freshmen declare two majors and a minor as they decide, at the ripe age of 18, what to do for the rest of their lives.
“I’m going to study Politics & Public Affairs, Journalism, French, and Music!” I told myself at first, convinced that four majors were enough.
These four majors quickly changed to three majors and a minor, then two majors and two minors, and finally two majors and one minor. Music would be an extra pastime— something I could do for fun without the pressure of a degree evaluation reading: “REQ NOT MET.”
Guilt accompanied these decisions, and I felt as if I was letting some invisible Denison principle down by not pushing myself to do as much as I possibly could.
Next, I applied for part-time jobs, joined clubs, and said “Yes!” to just about everything that came my way. I just hadn’t learned how to say, “Hey, that sounds great, but there are other priorities I need to focus on.”
Now, drowning in the sea of my sophomore spring, I’m trying to start saying, “No.”
We need to be okay with doing nothing, at least sometimes. The world isn’t going to end if I stare at my phone for a little while longer, or if I take a walk down the hill for no reason other than to stare through the window of the closed pretzel shop and dream of salt. And carbs. Every once in a while (or every day, if you’re feeling inclined), we need to take the time to reflect and focus on ourselves.
Yes, there’s a paper due Saturday that’s worth 9000 percent of my grade. However, if I spend all my time stressing and worrying about it now, the work I turn in will be much weaker than if I allow myself a second to breathe.
Right now, the world revolves around our classes, practices, meetings, and shifts. What if we focused on ourselves a little more?
So even if you’re feeling overwhelmed, trapped, and in the trenches of academia, take that walk. Read that chapter of the book you needed to return to the library a week ago. Call your friends, your parents, your partner.
Be the center of your own universe.
Margo Ellis ‘28 is a politics and public affairs and journalism double major from Medina.