Clubs are an integral part of the college experience. They’re a big part of why a lot of people go to college in the first place; in a sense, they’re synonymous with the campus lifestyle. Class, clubs, homework, sleep, repeat—that’s the game plan of an awful lot of college students. Oh, and toss in partying on the weekends. That’s really the glue that keeps this whole schedule together.

That’s not an exaggeration, either. The average Case Western Reserve University student has their hands so full with academics and extracurriculars that blowing off steam on the weekends, if they even have their weekends free, is absolutely essential to survival, let alone success. I don’t think there’s a problem with this. if the above is how you live your life, more power to you. I, on the other hand, can’t do all of that, and that’s what I’ve been thinking about lately.

When I started here at CWRU, I was absolutely blown away by how busy everyone seemed to be. Most of the people I knew were in four or five clubs, BME-premeds and taking twenty credit hours a semester. I, on the other hand, was in one club and taking a measly eighteen. To be honest, I felt lazy. Everyone around me is trying so hard all the time, and I have the nerve to complain about how much work I have to do? As a STEM major, I found myself inclined to solve things. There had to be an optimal way to go through this part of life, right? I was absolutely terrified that I was squandering this opportunity.

The thing is, though, that there’s no wrong approach to the college experience. I’m sure a lot of us want to be the kind of person who can do everything at once, but it’s absolutely fine to spend your time on just one or two clubs that you really enjoy. Looking back, I really wish someone had told me that it’s okay to not be doing community service every weekend, while organizing events for three different clubs and acing all of your classes. I wish someone had told me that it’s okay to take it easy. I wish someone had told me that the secret is to enjoy life as much as you can every day during this fleeting moment of our lives, whether that means lots of doing or lots of nothing. There’s no optimal solution to this question.

And that’s okay, too.

Danny Miles is a third-year student who is, evidently, not involved in too many clubs.