2021-2022: Freshman Year

A Year of Learning to Say "No"

          Enrolling in college, I never knew how busy it truly could be. As the youngest, I had my two older siblings to help me gauge how much or how little to get involved in, but this was a very inaccurate scale. I knew I wanted to be involved; however, I never thought it possible to be too involved in the first year of college. 
          Early on in a transition class, we were asked about skills we wanted to develop during our college careers. Someone far away from me said, “learning to say ‘no.’” That was the first time I ever heard something like that, but only hearing it once, was enough to stick in the back of my mind throughout my freshman year. Previously, I had always felt capable of doing whatever was thrown my way. I never wanted to turn down an opportunity, and sometimes I still do not, but I have learned that it is necessary at times. It is nearly impossible to attend every meeting or apply to every position on top of the hustle and bustle of school. 
          Carrying the weight of two honors curriculums and being in a small cohort of people who are all high-achievers, it was almost a competition to be the most involved. The first semester, I joined numerous groups and slowly dropped the ones that did not fit me as well. I was an active member of the groups I stayed with, but beyond attending meetings, I did not do much. To change this, I campaigned and got elected to be Lindner Student Association's (LSA) new Tribunal Senator for the spring semester and joined the marketing committee for Business Fellows. I began feeling the weight of school as my classes got harder and other miscellaneous tasks such as getting all my service hours as we closed in on the end of the year. In the second semester of college, I started to feel trapped by all the commitments I had made, and I nearly felt like I had no free time. Exhausted by meetings every day, cramming homework assignments in, feeling like I had to be the best, and having a social life, I was beginning to feel burned out, in my first year of college. When I recognized this, I started to fear for the rest of my years here. I started asking myself questions like: "Is it always going to be this tiring?", "Will I lose all my friends?", or "When can I visit my family?" To get through this, I had to be resilient. With the help of friends and members of the same groups I was in, I was able to push through. I stopped fearing asking for help and started saying "no." I found a balance by planning what I had to do each week and always working ahead. Slowly, I got used to being busy and enjoyed being recognized for my efforts toward making UC a better community.
          Moving forward, I have practiced saying "no" by not applying to numerous leadership positions for my sophomore year, though I wanted to. I knew that I was going to be LSA's Internal VP and a PACE leader, so I did not want to make the same mistake as before. On top of that, I want to resume being a tutor for Bearcat Buddies as I truly enjoyed that work, and I have also talked with my mentors to help keep me accountable for the duty I have to myself. The duty to say no and prioritize me.