Will Gonzalez
In high school, I spent nearly every day awake between the hours of 2-6 a.m. Nothing was worse.
My schedule never changed: wake up, go to school, debate practice, soccer practice, followed by a four-hour shift at Trader Joe’s and, finally, homework. I would do this, day after day, until eventually, the flame keeping me alive would dim, and I’d burn out.
Now, a large part of me assumed this was the consequence of having lofty post-graduate plans. But, as I start my first year here at Yale, I’ve come to realize that having a full Google Calendar isn’t necessarily something I was doing by accident: it was simply the consequence of engaging with all of my interests.
Let’s begin with a blank slate, an empty Google Calendar I could only hope to recreate during extended breaks.
Add 11 boxes to it, all different colors. These are my courses.
Academically, I spent a while scrolling through CourseTable and knew exactly what I was aiming to do: “Intro to Microeconomics,” like everyone, an American political science seminar, CS50 and an environmental science or language class. However, this is not how it ended up playing out. After the shit show that was my first course registration, I found myself enrolled in five course credits, including three p-set classes — Econ, Computer Science and MATH 120 — as well as ENGL 120 and a Chinese political science lecture.
Coming fresh out of high school, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Yes, I knew to heed the warning against taking more than four credits, but out of both indecision and blind confidence, I figured it would be fine.
I was wrong. I actively drown in confusion during lectures and quantities of homework I am not used to. But I fear the 3 a.m. sessions in the library are simply part of the game. In order to continue spending my weekends being social, I guess I’ll just have to get used to it!
Now let’s add 20 more boxes to my Calendar, once again all different colored and sizes, and all labeled with “MUNTY practice,” “Pop up event,” “YDN article deadline,” “Dems Zoom meeting” and so forth.
This is the consequence of applying to any and every club that approaches you. I write for the YDN because my Bulldog Days host is the current editor-in-chief and encouraged me to do it. I auditioned for Model UN because a sophomore on the team asked me if I liked steak. I don’t think there is anything wrong with my motives, but it does come with the consequence of being busy a LOT. Especially with midterms haunting me, I’m starting to feel similar to how I did back in high school. I’m starting to feel that even waking up at 11 a.m. isn’t necessarily enough for me to function properly. I’m starting to feel like maybe dropping something, whether it’s a club commitment or a course that is proving to be more difficult than I initially thought. And I think that’s totally okay.
31 boxes, at the minimum, are on my Google Calendar every week. Throw in lunch plans, birthdays, nights out, photo shoots, workouts and just day-to-day activities, and that number shoots up.
Now that itself isn’t inherently an issue, but when I’m sacrificing the key romanticized parts of college – socializing, flexibility in my courses and, most importantly, having fun – I feel that 31 ought to be reduced down to 30 or 29 or 28. It’s important to do what interests you, but it’s even more important that you’re able to take time to recharge, relight the flame that begins to dim as your candle continues to burn.
The last thing you want to do is have to tell someone you can’t make a plan with them or feel that you’re unprepared for an exam simply because you’re overbooked.