I sacrificed some things for that success, mostly on the social side. Sure, I made new friends along the way, but I lost touch with old ones. I couldn't make enough time for everything. To me, that's frustrating. To deal with that I'm employing a new value: apply myself fully to everything I do.
So far it's working, but it's frustrating none the less. Turning down opportunities, saying 'no' to friends on occasions, it's all a matter of tradeoffs. It's burdensome to need to be so picky. Maybe it's a responsibility thing? It'd be nice to live completely in the moment, but my goals simply don't allow for it. Things I do are too long term, too intensive to amass commitments.
If I were to give one piece of advice to an incoming freshman at a school like mine, so ripe with opportunity and option, it would be to concentrate yourself. Get passed classes, everyone takes them. Devote yourself completely to a project or goal. If your maximum level of devotion far overcomes what is necessary to manage that then, and only then take on more.
I am ambitious. I am confident. I'm pushing myself in new directions, trying to expand my professional network, expand my expertise and experience, maintain fruitful relationships, make new relationships. I like getting people excited about the things I work on and do.
Today at the activity fair I helped run the Robotics Club table. That was surprisingly enjoyable. Selling the assets of something good was easy. I felt amply able to communicate with everyone who came by- engage them with the goings on. But, the key is that I too am personally passionate about what goes on. I like to enable. And it's interesting, that guy Randy Pausch, may he rest in peace, is an amazing influence on me despite never having met him. I hear myself thinking about how to heed his advice everywhere. So far it's working out pretty well, and I intend to keep that advice in my head so long as things continue to go pretty well.
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