Kenyon students are sick. Our disease? Doing-too-much-itis. Common symptoms include signing up for a million different activities on top of your four (or five or six) classes and having to be in a constant frenzy running from one place to the next. If the only way for you to be involved in varsity sports, a shadow cast, an honors thesis and the other thousand awesome opportunities available to you at Kenyon is by half-assing all of them, it may be time to self-reflect. What is the point of doing all these things if you can’t give yourself the time to actually appreciate any of them? 

While I am still somewhat infected by this contagion, I have cut down on a number of commitments, and having just that much more freedom in my schedule has made me able to clearly see how cancerous this way of being is. After taking that load off, I have been able to fully commit myself to the things I am most passionate about. Last semester, my name was all over the Collegian. That is the effect of not responding to every email advertising the hot new thing. I finished my classes and got to run around campus talking to people, eating snacks and taking the time to appreciate the beauty of the place I am in for such a short time. When you are running around manically from sun up to sun down, you miss out on the vital opportunity to make these moments count. 

Another reason why I’m concerned about how constantly busy we all are: Free time is a perilous void that will drown you from five to nine post-grad. Kenyon keeps our Adderall-riddled minds content by keeping us busy. My playdates (all-campus parties) are set up, my classes and work eat up a nice chunk of the day and then I get to sign up for an infinite amount of activities that ensure I never have to be alone with my thoughts. My newfound free time at the beginning of last semester almost killed me. I was just stewing around, directionless, not knowing what to do with myself. I have since learned the important skill of actually knowing who I am and what I want to do when my Google calendar cannot just tell me what’s next. It is in these unscheduled moments that I have developed my most thoughtful love for the world and people that surround me. Choose to practice that now or I fear you may graduate into scrolling Instagram Reels all day. 

There are valid rebuttals to my argument that y’all are doing too much. You could say that Kenyon students are just genuinely passionate about so many things. More so, the point of going to a school like this is to try everything. Please do not let me stifle either of those pillars of the Kenyon College experience. But maybe as you pick up new things to try, you should put down the other things that you gave their shot, maybe even enjoyed, but ultimately do not need to be an essential aspect of your Kenyon agenda. You can’t do everything, and the fate of this club or that show cannot fall on your shoulders alone (especially if you’re spread that thin). 

To my friends and peers: What if we just rotted in New Side all day? And to the people I have to work with (either on school projects or in the extracurriculars I take part in): What if your time wasn’t so sacred that every moment with you felt rushed? It is disheartening to dedicate myself to things that you’re always 10 minutes late for and still have to leave early from. You do not have to be on the executive board of every club. You do not have to work in admissions. You do not have to be a double major. It’s okay. You can watch a movie with friends or read a book that isn’t for class. Just breathe. 

Dalia Fishman ’27 is a philosophy and religious studies major from McLean, VA. She can be reached at fishman2@kenyon.edu.