I'm currently in the middle of rehearsals for the Aquinas College production of "Chicago". In addition to these rehearsals, I have classes, my internship, extra curriculars, and a new found freedom of being 21. While I love staying busy and actively involved, sometimes I wonder if it's too much for one person. Am I able to tell when I've taken on too much responsibility? The answer is no, but I'm getting better.
I'm starting to realize that I am my own worst enemy. I tend to bite off more than I can chew, and I'm also very critical of myself. I recently talked with my internship coordinator and supervisor about my schedule, as well as my progress at my internship. I was being WAY too critical of myself, and not realizing how much I've learned since I started there in October or how much of an asset I've been to the organization. Instead I was focusing on the little things that made me worry if I was doing my job right. I need to learn to focus on my accomplishments rather than my failures. In order to do this, I need to choose the activities I really care about succeeding in over the ones that I should do because "it will look good on my resume" or "it's not that much of a time commitment".
I decided to drop one of my classes, realizing that I don't need to take a full amount of credits each semester to get my money's worth for my tuition. Fortunately it won't mess up my plan to graduate next year (whoa, I graduate from college next year!). Just because I can do something doesn't always mean I should. My sanity is much more rewarding than burying my life in books and missing out on what the world outside of college has to offer. While it feels weird not taking a full 18 credits, and I haven't done this technically since freshman year, in the long run this decision is one step closer for me actually having a social life outside of school AND decent grades.