It’s the start of the semester, a time where students are the most motivated and least burnout. During this time of excitement for new opportunities in a new school year, the last thing to think about is quitting. 

When I think about the word quitting it comes with negative connotations. No one wants to be labeled a “quitter” and phrases such as “quitting is for losers” or “quitters never win” push people to keep moving forward. I’d say many people even view quitting as the antithesis of perseverance, a hallmark quality of success stories and great leaders. But it is precisely during this season of high motivation that I wanted to share how I’ve found quitting to be beneficial. 

Like many of my peers here in PLA, I oftentimes find my schedule completely filled, and myself overwhelmed with all the commitments I’ve signed up for. When I open my Google calendar it looks like unicorn vomit: classes, extracurriculars, events, and more all color-coded and sprawled over times covering 8 AM to 8 PM. And though I take pride in staying organized this way, I was shocked that by week 2 of the semester the time I set for myself, friends, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle were already being compromised.

I knew it was time to take a step back and reevaluate. Now I know that this sort of busyness is almost common and expected for high achieving students, and that many people do successfully find a way to make everything work. But I was finding myself in a situation where no matter how many times I shifted something around, tried to reschedule, or push something back, I was not seeing any improvement. This is when I began to realize that I could choose to keep my schedule jam-packed, I could keep persevering, but at what cost?

It was at the point where I literally had to write down all of my involvements, rate their value based on my interest, career relevance, and time commitment that I found myself facing the reality of having to quit. Initially, I felt so much shame in having to make the call, send the text, and ultimately explain to someone that I wanted to prioritize my wellbeing and happiness. It was very anxiety-inducing and I couldn’t help but feel like I was letting people down.

This was not the case. Where I thought I would face backlash and severed relationships, my fellow organization leaders extended their understanding and support. Since quitting my leadership role and soon later my research part-time job, I’ve found myself finding other ways to stay connected to those communities and more free time for myself! I’ve made more time to pursue hobbies such as cooking and goals such as running a 5k.

Though quitting filled me with so much fear, in retrospect I realized that (1) the actual process of quitting comprised all of a 30-minute phone call and another brief 15 minute in-person meeting and that (2) life moves on. Of course, this blog isn’t an argument for why everyone should quit, but instead I hope it can be an encouragement to someone or be the little bit of bravery someone might need to reflect, re-prioritize, and make a decision that’s best for them–even if it means quitting.