The biggest mistake I made my freshman year was not getting involved on campus. I made excuses for my lack of participation, such as the fact that Fall 2021 was right after the COVID pandemic and Covenant wasn’t really quite back to itself after the lock down, offering fewer events and clubs. As I now approach my senior year, I find myself perhaps too involved in campus. I play soccer, I’m a student ambassador for admissions and the editor-in-chief of The Bagpipe, our student newspaper, and I’m in the process of becoming a leader for the African American student club. On top of this, my first senior capstone draft is due in December. All of these commitments require a lot of time and dedication to be fully present. 

If you, like me, have always kept yourself busy through high school but aren’t sure how to accomplish that in college, I'd love to offer some encouragement and a little bit of wisdom I've picked up as a hyperactive Scot.

Learn to Keep a Calendar

As cliche as this might be, if you know you have a regular standing club meeting time, rehearsal, or practice of some kind, put it down on your Google calendar with notifications to help you stay organized. This will be a lifesaver when it comes to seeing what you do and do not have time for. I put my class schedule along with what major tests or assignments I have in mine, and it helps me tremendously. If you’re “type A” like I am, color coding events and schedules is also helpful. 

It might seem tedious to add every little thing into your calendar, but it helps me balance missing class for sports, knowing when and where I have to be for work, and keeps me on top of deadlines for The Bagpipe. It has also helped me manage my social life too. As cheesy as it may sound, I got in the habit of sending my friends Google calendar invites when we planned to go off the mountain, whether we were just going downtown or were taking a day trip to Nashville. 

Learn to Overcome FOMO

There’s so much going on during any given day on campus. There’s always a sports game, club event, CAB event, concert, or something to attend. As a soccer player whose games have clashed with these kinds of events, or even traditions like Kilter most years, I've had to make peace with the fact that I can't be at everything. I see my friend’s cute Kilter outfits, or my roommate comes back from a concert I missed because my own club was meeting, and I can't help but feel like I've missed out on something wonderful.

However, missing events is a balance. There will be times where it is okay to put a smaller homework assignment off in favor of going to watch a play in Sanderson, or to put off studying to make it to Max Out Barnes, as long as you can build time into your schedule to make up for it. And if it turns out that you can’t make it to a big campus tradition, don’t worry! It will probably happen again during your four years here. I went to Kilter for the first time as a junior this past year and had a really good time. It’s no guarantee that I'll get to go to my senior year, but I treasured the time that I got to go!

Learn to Say “No”

Here’s something I’ve learned as I have become a young professional while still in college: no one expects you to be at everything the school has to offer, but people do expect you to be at things you have committed to in word or in writing. If you know you can’t commit to something, don’t feel obligated to say “yes” to it. No one is going to be mad at you if you don’t have the time or energy to commit to something if you know you can’t give it your all. 

Over committing yourself is a one way ticket to burnout on many levels. It does take a lot of self reflection and discipline to know your limits. I learned the hard way that committing to multiple things is only doable if you know for sure that you can put your best into everything you've said you would do. I have had to let go of the desire to say “yes” to everything and say goodbye to the people pleaser in me.

Learn to Be Spontaneous When Appropriate

I've had a lot to say about how to plan, but another important thing is knowing when to be spontaneous. As structured as I prefer my life to be, I learned the value of randomly going to Cookout at 4 am with my friends, or suddenly leaving the Great Hall on a Wednesday because we remembered the Publix has $5 sushi on Wednesdays. There’s also a balance of knowing that I have a big paper due that needs several hours of work, so no, I can’t spend 3 hours playing pickleball, but maybe I can play spikeball for an hour as a study break if I get asked to play. 

Being highly involved around campus isn’t a bad thing. I’m excited that I have so much to do this year between all of my commitments like classes, soccer, and leadership positions. I know the Lord will strengthen me to do all of the things I've committed to well, and if I can't, He will show me the way to take a step back. 

Learn more about how to get involved at Covenant here!

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