william couch

You wouldn’t believe how much sleep my Mom loses over worrying. And unfortunately for me, she passed that lovely little haibt on to me. For a good portion of my life, I’ve worried about everything from the major to the minute. But that all ended this year.

During my Winter semester, I was absolutely packed with work. Classes, homework, extracurriculars. It was awful. I’d be gone for at least 12-14 hours often not getting home until long after midnight. I was stretching myself thin across my classes, Glee Club rehearsals, and the Daily. It’d be a miracle if I could even get to bed before 2 am. I felt like a circus clown juggling 5 balls while balancing on a tightrope. My housemates were expressing their concern that I was overworking myself. They wanted to know why I was doing homework and not hanging out with them on Saturday nights. I wanted to know why too. I was nervous that everything would start unraveling. I’d reached a precarious balance; one slip and it’d be all over.

Earlier, in January, I went to meet with my advisor to see what she thought I should do about having all of these commitments. She noted that it would be difficult, but that it was great that I was involved in so much. That was basically the stance I took on the situation too - I loved what I was doing, and I was going to stop at nothing to advance myself professionally for my career. The semester continued, and somehow I managed to get by - just barely. As a testament to how tight everything got, on the last day of classes, I was up for about 58 hours straight. When all was said and done though, I had a lot of work to lay claim for. I’d built a respectable news design portfolio at the Daily, put out another semester’s worth of E3Ws, garnered a series of designs and illustrations for the Glee Club, and still achieved above a 3.5. And admittedly, I love the chaos; I thrive in it, but there’s a point at which you have to just learn to say no.

That’s when it really hit me. I’ve had a lot of times where things were getting pretty dicey and I was not sure that everything would play out, but nothing was quite as challenging as this last semester, where I became so overtly ambitious, that I became my own worst enemy. In retrospect though, I’ve realized that regardless of how tight a situation might become, everything will work itself out in the end. Things happen for a reason, and that is absolutely the case when you’re working with ideas, beliefs, and people you’re passionate about. That is my indefinite life motto now. A year and a half ago, I was a computer science major and was having a tremendously difficult time as such. While I’d say I know my fair share about computers, this clearly wasn’t the right direction for me. Doing a complete 180 degree shift, I’m now a Screen Arts & Cultures and Communications major, and things are looking up. I love the work I’m doing, I love the people I’m meeting, and I’m a little frightened because I’m a near-graduate who’s actually excited to enter the real world.

And now, I’ve come to another realization. While I can’t wait to start working professionally with design, I can not forget about what I have going for me currently - my Senior year and a whole lot of great friends. I find myself relating a little to well to Topher Grace’s character in “In Good Company” and, yes sadly, even Anne Hathaway’s in “The Devil Wears Prada.” They were both so eager to get into their careers that they lost track of what’s important. Cliche it may sound, but it often can and does happen. Thus, this year, I’m going pull back on the throttle. This year, while I’ll still be working with design, my priorities are going to be my friends, my classes and my Senior year the University of Michigan.