Dedicated students may be spreading time thin

Dear dedicated,

I understand that the prospect of being involved in countless school activities sounds super important right now, but hear me out.

I know from a first hand experience what it is like to overfill my plate. I know what it is like to say yes to every possible thing because the idea of taking on new challenges and meeting new people sounds absolutely incredible. I know what it is like to say yes to something just because it might look good on a college resume. I know what it is like to say yes to a favor that I don’t necessarily have the time to complete, and I know what it is like when I can’t follow through with all of these things because I have already committed to too much.

If you are a person who can manage 50 different things at one time and still manage them all well, then I applaud you, but I find it rather difficult to spread myself out that thin and still do an admirable job trying to achieve all of the things that I hope to achieve. I’m not saying that it is impossible, I’ve just realized from my own life experiences (the very few that I’ve had), that it is really difficult to do a great job at something if I’m trying to do 10 other things at the same time.

In my opinion, it’s better to do one thing and put all of my time and effort into it than it is to do 50 things in a mediocre manner. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is great to diversify when it comes to getting involved, and I think it is smart to put my fingers into different pools, but if all I ever do is put my fingers into a bunch of different pools, I will never actually jump into any of them.

I honestly think that I would be more successful if I didn’t try to do absolutely everything all of the time. I think I would be happier if I could learn to say no once in awhile. It’s important to be aware of how much to take on is too much.

I’m not advocating that you drop all of the school activities that you’re in. I think it is super important to be involved in our high school. I just hope that you consider evaluating the time that you are putting into each of your commitments because I didn’t realize until right now that I might only be doing mediocre at all of the things that I am trying to take on.