But First, Responsibilities

Written by Allison Perry. Media by Tawnie Kozora.

In the movies, we see college students spending their spring break somewhere on a beach, being irresponsible, and causing some type of trouble. While most of us don’t want to get into trouble over spring break, we would really like to enjoy ourselves. As a college student on break, I’m eating pastries and drinking coffee on a patio at a cute little café, longing to be in a different place.

Instead of talking about a trip to Chicago that I initially planned, I’m talking about making adult decisions and responsibilities because I’m not a character in a Hollywood film. I am a real person. 

What they don’t show in the movies are the piles and piles of homework assigned over breaks, the bills that need to be paid, and the hours of work to pay those bills. Movies tend to ignore everything that normally happens for college kids who have real responsibilities. Behind the scenes, maybe the kids work and get their homework done before they head to the beach, but I highly doubt it.

My plan for break was to do everything: work, get ahead on homework, and go to Chicago and have fun. But, the closer the trip came, the more and more stressed I became. I realized that I couldn’t do everything. The responsible decision I needed to make was to get things done. So, I canceled my trip.

Adult decisions are not easy to make. They require sacrifice, which is quite upsetting. However, there are rewards that come with making adult decisions, maybe not immediately, but in time. In my case, I have more money in the bank, my homework done on time, and the pleasure of seeing friends and family much more than if I would have gone to Chicago.

College is stressful and annoying and difficult. The movies downplay the amount of work that has to be done to succeed. In college, if we’re doing things right, we learn how to do well in our major, become more responsible, and make the right decisions. Most of us would rather ignore what has to be done, but in all honesty, there comes a point when responsibilities cannot be put off. The closer we get to deadlines and the more assignments we receive, the harder it becomes to relax.

Make the right decision, be responsible, get the work done, and then relax. Responsibilities are better taken care of earlier rather than later. The quicker you accomplish your responsibilities, the quicker your hard work will be rewarded.