Resolve to tackle overcommitment this New Year

Overcommitment is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges for College students during their "first year out" of High School. It's also the biggest obstacle to spiritual growth. Sociologist Tim Clydesdale observes,

Outgoing, active teens who attended four-year residential colleges seemed to have the most difficult adjustment. These teens discovered college offers an exponential increase in activities, and they found it hard to resist the many possibilities. Only after they received their first-semester grades did many of these teens realize they had overcommitted themselves.

Overcommitment shouldn't be a surprising problem for College students as very few have experience managing big blocks of free time. American High School students live very structured lives with about seven hours spent in school each day and then several more spent in after school activities.

In College the number of class hours per day are nearly cut in half, but much more out of class work is expected. Add to that the many new opportunities for extracurricular involvement and increased academic rigor, and it's no surprise that being busy is a problem.

For most students faith becomes one more extracurricular option among many. A small group will decide that their spiritual lives are something they want to prioritize in College, but the vast majority don't think about it all that much. Faith is something to think about after College when there will be "more time". Unfortunately that additional time doesn't seem to materialize even after graduation.

During Christmas break students finally have a golden opportunity to reassess their commitments and decide what they really want to do with their time. The fact that it ends with the annual custom of making New Year's resolutions is even better!

Right now is a good time to ask questions like what are my priorities for the new semester/year? Am I involved in activities that really enhance my College experience or am I just busy? Where does God fit into the picture? Do I take time to reflect on what I'm experiencing or am I too busy to do that?

Spirituality is one of the most important and underutilized assets for College students. It offers space for reflection and an opportunity to process. Students who get reconnected with their faith during College often say they didn't realize how important such opportunities were until they began to focus on them once again.

But spirituality doesn't just enhance the College years. Paying attention to one's spiritual life is critically important for navigating the ups and downs of life after College. Congregations are wonderfully positioned to support young adults in this process but few are intentional about doing so. It's a golden opportunity for the Church to reconnect with a group (young adults) that are largely absent.