Don’t Do It All

Try it all. Then get rid of what’s not for you. 

College is absolutely a time to try it all. New foods and new experiences. New hobbies and new student orgs. When you get to campus — try every single thing you’re excited to try. 

Then get rid of what’s not for you. 

Some of my best friends in college signed up at the Org Fair freshman year for the Midnight Rollerblading Club. Yes, this was literally a club that met at midnight to rollerblade around campus together. After a near accident at their first attendance, my friends never went back.

Often times, like my friends, we know right away when something isn’t for us. But we end up feeling bad for saying that we’re not interested. So we don’t. We stay on the email lists. We continue to get the Facebook and Instagram posts in our feeds. We don’t respond when someone in the group reaches out to see if we are coming back.

You don’t have to feel bad saying no or unsubscribing. Chances are, no one will even notice.

Small Things Add Up

It seems like a small thing, and in the grand scheme of it all, it isn’t a huge deal. But those little things throughout the day (like deleting an org email every week or avoiding someone on our floor who keeps inviting us to the same meetings) add up to big things in our schedules. One simple decision to click “unsubscribe” could save you countless weeks (112 if you count every week of the semester for all 4 years) of deleting the same emails over and over. And although this only probably amounts to about 10 minutes of your whole college experience, imagine if the Midnight Rollerblading Club wasn’t the only listserv you found yourself on. 10 minutes for every club you never attend or every store you never shop at, adds up over time. 

Say No. Unapologetically.

Now let me be clear, this post isn’t about unsubscribing to all irrelevant emails (although I’m very much in favor of that)! This post is about trying all the things, deciding what is right for you and then unapologetically getting rid of what’s not. You don’t have to feel bad saying no or unsubscribing. Chances are, no one will even notice. And if they do, they will probably be thankful for your honesty!

It would be way worse to spend your whole time in college saying yes to things you weren’t interested in after all — continuing to make yourself uncomfortable over and over just to be sure no one else may feel uncomfortable. Try it, keep what you love and say no to the rest!

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