Navigating university with multifaceted interests

University is a time to explore and narrow down your interests, but trying to balance prioritizing activities and future endeavours is a slippery slope 

When you start university, you’re given close to a million different pieces of advice from all kinds of different individuals. Your parents, high school teachers, friends, therapists will all have something to say. In all the advice I received one thing was for sure though — university was a time to find out who I was by pursuing things that interested me. Now that I’m graduating and looking back, I can confidently say that it was much easier said than done.  

Another one of the most frequently offered pierces of advice was to ensure that I knew how to manage my time. I was told that as long as I learned to prioritize between extracurricular activities and schoolwork I’d have no problem navigating my first year.  

My approach in first year was quite conservative, in that my primary focus was to get accustomed to the difference in workload rather than indulging too much in fun activities. I quickly realized, however, that this was not the way to go about it. Although my grades were good, I soon found myself on the brink of mental exhaustion and lacking in stimulation from alternative sources. 

Coming out of high school, I knew that my interests were multifaceted. Being involved in sports teams, student council and various clubs, I had already established that my interests were definitely broad and that focusing solely on schoolwork would not last long.  

Subsequently, I came up with a plan: even though I had felt I had wasted my first year in terms of having a life outside of school, I was determined to change that in second year and finally broaden my horizons as one would say. 

Clearly, the pandemic had other plans.  

There wasn’t much to do other than continue doing what I did in first year. Although everyone around me was looking into which hobbies to take part in that restrictions would allow, I knew that the activities that I truly wanted to do wouldn’t be possible. Even still, I hiked, spent time outdoors, saw friends when it was possible and joined a few clubs.

But I was bored out of my mind. My grades were better than ever, but like many others, I’d assume, I wasn’t happy. It wasn’t enough.  

Like the world had a wake-up call after World War I and entered the Roaring 20’s, I too, had my own epiphany once restrictions were lifted in third year (bold comparison, I know). I knew I had to make up for lost time, but my enthusiasm led me to spread myself too thin across various activities.  

In the pursuit of satisfying my interests, by the end of third year, I found myself to be a student-athlete on the women’s football team, a Silhouette writer, an McMaster Student Union Maroons representative, an amateur snowboarder and an executive for a number of clubs. 

In my opinion, this was a bad approach, but a necessary one nonetheless.  

I was convincing myself that I had a lot more free time than I did, resulting in decreasing performances in each activity. Like the Great Depression following the Roaring 20’s, I too, entered my own. I knew that something had to change in fourth year.  

Throughout all this, it gets difficult to navigate the line between living in the moment and thinking about your future. Especially in my final year, knowing that this era is coming to an end, the pressure of having a good time and enjoying the moments as they come is at an all-time high. Grades and schoolwork, although more important now than ever, start becoming secondary activities.  

As I know most fourth years can agree, the looming thought of what comes after never entirely leaves your head. Nonetheless, you push it further and further back as impulse decisions in the pursuit of fun make themselves more and more comfortable in your mind. Isn’t that what university was supposed to be all about though?  

Now, however, instead of having my interests narrowed, I think I might have even more. In retrospect, while I am grateful for the myriad of experiences that university has afforded me, I recognize that I might have benefited from a more measured approach. 

I leave you with this final piece of advice, the quality of which is for you to decide and for you to take how you will. Regardless of how important something may seem to be in the moment, times will continue to change. Although memories and experiences are important, be mindful of what you prioritize them over.