“I am so busy.”
A sentence I hear constantly.
As constantly as I crave Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. As constantly as I ascend the 48 steps to my room. As constantly as I check ESPN for the latest ATP and WTA news.
Though the sentence seems innocent enough, it reveals a socially toxic trend, one I confess I take part in: the out-busy. When a classmate describes his or her week, seven days usually replete in due dates, essays, projects and tests, my mind instantly swerves to my own week, one usually replete in the same stressors.
A hasty “Wow!” later, I describe my own week, careful to accent the grave nature of my own stressors. I am always eager to out-busy my fellow students.
As fellow college students, though, we ought to comfort each other. We ought to ask when the essay is due, what the project is about and when the test is. The out-busy trend reveals that we are self-centered students who hardly accept that we are all stuck in a relentless state of busyness, one we hope leads to career success.
Plus, when we try to out-busy, we neglect a chance to learn.
“Your paper is about the decline of the Occupy Wall Street movement? Tell me more.”
However, I am yet stuck on my own more. More due dates, more essays, more projects, more tests. More busy. More me.
And, I confess, less you.
Clearly, I need to acknowledge that “more” is a staple of college. That we all balance many tasks and bear many stressors.
That I need less me and more you.
How about we discuss next week’s mutual busyness over a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream?
