A wise woman once told a friend of mine, who in turn passed this adage along to me, that we all have our individual wells and people are going to continue to pull from that well with out realizing that it is going to dry out. I am finding this metaphor true in my final semester as an undergraduate chipping away day after day at what appears to be insurmountable mountains of work, meetings and other daily requirements.

Now whether you’re a senior working on a capstone project or not, I can tell that you’re reading this and shaking your head in agreement. That’s because we are all suffering from the same increasing epidemic that comes with being a Dickinsonian. It is called being involved on campus and often results in stretching yourself too thin so that it becomes impossible to devote enough of yourself to all of your school work, extra-curricular activities and the normal functioning of a 20-something.

I have scarcely met a Dickinsonian over the last four years that was not involved in multiple campus organizations at once. Now I am not at all arguing for complacency with just choosing one group to associate with over the span of your college career. Interests change and people move in and out of our lives. There is not a doubt in my mind that we should do what makes us happy and if that means being involved in 15 different organizations, so be it. But what scares me is when we forget why we were involved in said organizations and we lose sight of the passion that brought us all to this campus in the first place.

I’ve been seeing it in a lot of my friends lately and sometimes in myself. We are all so busy trying to run the world that we lose track of ourselves in the process. Things like remembering to eat become an issue. Seeing your roommates (except for when you are rushing out the door) becomes a rarity. It is just no good in my book.

This is a plea dedicated to all Dickinsonians who feel that their well is about to run dry. It may seem simple or even clichéd, but take a second and hug your roommate. Grab a meal with them. Notice how beautiful the Academic Quad looks at sunset. Those things are what keep your well replenished, because now is no time for a drought.