by Haley Williamson
When you walk around campus and ask people where they are headed, what they have been up to or what their plans for the day are, a majority of the answers will revolve around homework and studying.
Too often we get caught up with the demands of school and the tedious aspects of homework and readings that we completely push other aspects of our lives to the bottom of priorities.
It is as if school has become an unidentified idol in students’ lives.
I know I am guilty of placing school before so many other aspects of life.
I cancel grabbing coffee with good friends, sacrifice time in the morning that I would normally spend in the word and I lock myself inside library rooms without windows and fresh air. School is important but does not always be number one on our list of priorities.
Being caught up in school and the need for straight A’s can cause relationships to suffer. How will friends begin to feel when they need you, but homework comes first before answering the phone? Or how will they feel the fifth time you cancelled going on a walk when that friendship has much value, but not as much as an extra hour of studying?
I think people don’t only put school before worthwhile time with others, but also before their own health. Students feel the need to spend hours staring at the same computer screen cramming definitions, formulas and biographies into their brains when they know they have reached their breaking point. Instead of taking that needed break, getting fresh air and doing something simply for themselves, they continue to push through. They push through into stress, anxiety and the idea that every waking minute needs to be dedicated to studying.
School and work soon begin to fill the areas of our lives between others and personal needs. School becomes church and worship and can lead to putting off time with God. That is not how school should be.
We should not have to sacrifice the things that bring us joy because school has to come first. Students should not feel burdened to surrender things such as playing Frisbee, baking cookies, laying in the loop or reading a book simply for fun. The things that bring joy into an individual’s life should not be forced to sit behind tests and deadlines, but rather go hand in hand and make all the work worthwhile.
School should not be the focal point of every person’s life, but rather another aspect that makes life enjoyable.
When school gets in the way of relationships, individual health and the pleasurable things in life, then priorities need to be reconsidered. However, the privilege to attend a university such as ours and receive an education such as this should not be overlooked. It is finding a balance of priorities that doesn’t worship school.