You know that saying, “less is better?” Sometimes, it doesn’t apply to the real world (i.e. school, work, extracurriculars), especially when you choose to take on even more activities and outside work to show that you can handle more when in all reality, sometimes, it’s impossible.

Sure, being the president of a club at school or working two jobs outside of school shows leadership skills to add to a resume when applying for universities. Admissions officers will see that it’s possible to take on several activities at once without feeling the pressure and breaking down. But, at the end of the day, working that extra job or holding a title in a club with many active members won’t benefit you when barely maintaining your grades or other priorities.

As most of you may or may not realize, being a part of the newspaper staff involves time and energy outside of class. Although I am only required to produce one column each week, it usually takes away time from Sunday to Tuesday, aside from attempting to start and write it from Thursday to Saturday. When I’m not writing my column, I usually take time out of my day to review topics to write about.

[vision_pullquote style=”3″ align=””] Having these responsibilities always, and I mean always, leaves me with a cluttered schedule with several priorities overlapping and conflicting. [/vision_pullquote]

Besides my work for journalism, I have other tasks I’m responsible for: maintaining passing grades, having a social life with my friends, modeling and acting. And to add a cherry on top of that cake of stress, my soon to be job is slowly creeping up faster than I think.

Having these responsibilities always, and I mean always, leaves me with a cluttered schedule with several priorities overlapping and conflicting. As always, my columns are due weekly on Tuesdays, unless otherwise told, which conflicts with my modeling that is also on Tuesdays from four to seven, leaving only a half hour gap between walking home and making it to the studio.

Saturdays are even worse: With that being one of my only days to spend time with friends that live on the other side of town, plans are often ruined with my acting and auditions taking place on that day. Oh boy, having to tell my friends I’m unavailable is a nightmare filled with responses of irritation, crankiness, and anger over the fact that we never “see” each other.

Having to handle this many activities makes for a busy schedule. At the end of the day, it makes for more material to put on job applications and towards university. Sometimes, though, I reach a point of screaming from having so much to do.

Before committing to this many jobs and activities, I should really overlook how much sleep I’ll lose, how many arguments I’ll be involved in, and how much stress I’ll go through since it can really take a toll on my ability to commit.