PERSONAL FULFILLMENT AS A COLLEGE STUDENT: IT'S IN YOUR REACH

As college students, we love to talk about how busy and stressed we are. It's the one common denominator between each and every person on campus. "I have two midterms next week," "I got like 3 hours of sleep last night," and my personal favorite, "Guys I literally have so much to do." We make conversation by expressing how hectic our lives are. The truth is, this is what constructs our mindset that we must dig into our books, attempt to make time to sleep and eat, and forget all the rest. We seem to have very little time to worry about anything else. There's one thing that always seems to fall to the bottom of our list, and that's personal fulfillment. When I say personal fulfillment, I'm talking about what makes our heart soar, what lifts our spirits, and what makes us truly happy. For some, it's playing on a sports team. For others, painting. Whatever it is, it seems as though college students lose their interests the second they get busy with academics. As a business major, I'm taking my first semester of heavy business-oriented classes. While I'm very passionate about my major and I enjoy what I'm working towards, it leaves me with very little else in my schedule. Last year, I found myself immersed in my gen ed classes and enjoying them greatly. Why is that? Because they related to my interests outside of the classroom. I've always enjoyed discussion, and my Interpretation of Literature class gave me that. I'm interested in media and the history of journalism, and my Media and Society lecture fed my curiosity. My first year of college provided me with life outside of my major, even if they were just general education requirements. However, now that I'm finished with those courses, I don't have as much ability to truly connect my interests with my classes. I found myself in this dilemma at the end of the summer as I gazed upon my schedule, seeing one theme alone. The diversity was lost. Thankfully, I came to a realization: it's up to me to do what I love. As college students, we are responsible for our actions. We are independent in our choices, our classes, and what we choose to allocate our time to. And this year, I've chosen to take back my personal fulfillment that was lost. In high school, I was involved. Student leadership, newspaper, theatre, choir, and anything else I could be a part of. The tricky thing about the transition to college is that there's less focus on doing these extra curricular activities and getting involved outside of the classroom. In high school, we play sports, we join clubs, we spend more time focused on what we enjoy. As we move on to our college years, we become more and more concerned with juggling our academics, and we forget to enjoy ourselves. So I decided to make a change. I auditioned for a university choir and now I am a part of a 55-person chorus that performs twice throughout the semester. After being in this group for two weeks, I have reached a new point of personal fulfillment, something I was missing. So here's my advice. 1) Answer this question for yourself: What makes you purely and truly happy? Whatever it may be, answer this question honestly. Think back to what you did before getting wrapped up in the college cycle. 2) Seek out the opportunity As college students quickly learn, nothing comes to you. We are responsible for finding our own paths. Find a community, a student organization, or a club that you can join to fulfill this personal interest. 3) Reflect As I sit here and think on the choice I made to join choir, it's something I needed to do for myself. Given I have a million other things to be wrapped up in through the university, this is the one thing that I do purely out of personal fulfillment. Once you put your interest into action, think on what it's giving you personally. In college, we use our four years to reach out for what's after graduation. We are constantly working towards goals that can often seem intangible or hard to grasp, and what matters most to us is security in our decisions. But I urge you to remember what makes you smile, and to spend time doing what you love. ​xo Kate