Is there such a thing as commitment overload?

Editorial - Issue 8

Caitríona Ní Chonaill (Editor in Chief)

Hi there,

As we get into the swing of Semester 2, I've found myself looking around at my colleagues, friends and at myself as we all put our hearts and souls into our courses and other commitments and wondering : are we all doing too much? 

There are so many opportunities for self development and furthering your personal experience in college that it can be difficult to know when to stop. Anyone who knows me well will be unfortunately familiar with me saying "I've taken on another position/job/ gotten involved in another project!" And not to blow my own trumpet, but I am involved in a LOT. Outside of my Master's course (the entire reason I'm here in the first place), I'm Editor In Chief of this paper, Chairperson of Harry Potter society,  Vice Chair of An Cumann Drámaíochta, Events Officer of Journalism Society, IT Tutor at the Skills Centre in UCC and on top of that I've just taken it upon myself to run a radio show this semester and to have another smaller part time job on the side. It's tiring just to look at the list! Many of my close friends are the same, but why do we take on so much responsibility, particularly when it comes to clubs and societies, where there is no financial compensation? Why do we give ourselves extra responsibility, and to be frank, stress, for no visible reward?

If you ask anyone involved in a society, (or indeed in this paper, most of which is also voluntary) I think most will give you the same answer. Because we love it. Because we've found our best friends there and wouldn't want to leave them to shoulder the responsibility on their own. Because being able to say that you ran a really cool event, or wrote an amazing piece of journalism, however stressful it was to organise and however many squabbles there were in the group chat, it's a great feeling to be able to see people enjoying what you have created and knowing that they wouldn't have been able to if it wasn't for you. 

However,  there is definitely the possibility to burn out due to overcommitment. I know the feeling, when the weight of everything you have taken on and of other people's expectations of you feel extremely heavy on your shoulders. And that is the point that you reach out and ask to rely on the others in the same boat with you. If everyone pulls together, we can achieve what we want to achieve. *High School Musical starts playing in the background*

And this issue has also been a team effort when it came to getting everything together on time! I'd like to welcome our three new staff members: Emer Neville as Designer,  Eoin O'Brien as Social Media Manager and Ana McGuire as Staff Writer. In this issue, find some budget friendly snacks in the Food section, learn why teenagers are leaving sport and what can be done in the Sports section, and educate yourself with some activist literature in Arts & Lit.

Happy Reading!