I am pleased to welcome you into the life of an over-involved student leader. We plan our days down to the minute. We go to class, have multiple jobs and attend several meetings. If we happen to have random hours of free time, we usually end up filling in that free time with more meetings. If we’re lucky, we occasionally squeeze study time, meals and sleep into our schedules.

You might think we drive ourselves nuts by becoming such sleep-deprived, over-involved students. That sometimes may be the case, but I like to think that this kind of lifestyle keeps things interesting. All in all, we still manage to have a heck of a lot of fun amidst our busy schedules. Two weeks ago, the Office of Co-Curricular Programs sponsored a leadSTRONG Lecture: “The Over-Involved Student Leader.” If you are like me, you probably saw the advertisement and thought, “I’m an over-involved student leader… I should go to that event!” If you’re like me, you also are not feeling well after spending your weekend putting all the energy you had into staffing a fantastic Awakening retreat—which, by the way, was completely worth it. If you’re like me, you probably also realized that the time of this lecture happens to be your only free time of the day, and it is just one more event to squeeze into your busy, over-exhausted schedule. The irony lies in the fact that I did not go because I am an over-involved student leader.

Freshman year I tested the waters. I went to events and club meetings that interested me. Sophomore year came, and I entered the black hole of student leadership. I said, “yes” to organizations and events because I felt obligated rather than truly called to them. I spread myself too thin, and I probably gave 80 percent myself to 100 tasks instead of 100 percent into only 80. Junior year is currently in progress, and although I am still very busy, I feel that I have finally gotten a grasp on where I’m called to be as a student leader. I am doing the things that make me truly happy.

Our weakness as student leaders often lies in the inability to say one simple word: no. Sometimes I think the muscles in my mouth do not know how to move to allow me to say that word. I absolutely love trying new things, meeting new people, and jumping into any open opportunity that presents itself, but sometimes I forget that I need to fit “me time” somewhere in there. When my evening meetings finally finish at 11 p.m., I forget that I really do need to start studying for my test that’s at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. This is where my advice to you comes into action: Do what you love, but remember to take care of yourself—and your grades—in the process.

As hard as it was, I learned to say, “no” to some new opportunities this year so that I could devote my full self to Krewe of Leaders, Christian Life Community, commonly known as “CLC”, Ignacio Volunteers, and the Awakening retreats—groups that I absolutely love being a part of. One of the hardest things to realize is that if you say no, there is always someone else out there who can do that job the same as, if not better than, you. So let them do that, and do what you love instead.

To any student, faculty or staff member who might ask me to be involved with something new in the future, I offer this as a disclaimer. If I tell you no, please know that it’s not because I don’t like you or that I’m not interested. It is probably because I really need sleep or have to write that paper I’ve been putting off since the semester began. But maybe I can pencil you in… let me check my schedule.

Michelle Rau is a psychology junior. She can be reached at [email protected]

In My Opinion is a column open to any Loyola student. Those interested can contact [email protected]