Column:

Take time to engage in living

By Erica Zucco

Published Oct. 2, 2009

Up until my second year of college, my Starbucks coffee orders were exceedingly complicated. They were always something like "grande cinnamon dolce latte with two extra shots." The kind of drinks you can hardly call coffee — more like desserts with a little bit of caffeine.

When sophomore year rolled around, E.Z. Charge went away and I needed coffee that would actually keep me awake for an extended period of time. I realized it was time to go for the normal house-brewed coffee. Before you snuff about how much coffee I buy at Starbucks instead of just brewing it myself, let me clarify I spend pretty much all of my time at either the J school, which is across the street from a Starbucks, or Memorial Union, which has it right in the building, neither of which has a free-use coffee maker.

So I ordered my first cup of regular no-frills coffee, with no room for milk, cream, cinnamon or anything. It was pretty strong at first, but I felt proud for drinking it black. And it made me feel a lot more awake — a lot more alert and ready to go.

So, there's my new motto. Drink it black.

Not just coffee — life. Take it straight. Don't short yourself an experience because you're multitasking or afraid to go more than halfway. Doing too many things at once means you not only won't do any of them well, but you won't taste any of them completely. As busy as we are as students right now — between classes, work, organizations, internships and preparing for the "next step" — we hardly take a moment to enjoy any of those things. Here are a few tips I've realized work for me over the past couple years to help enjoy the work I have to do — and do it well.

We all have late nights and occasionally we have classes that aren't terribly exciting. But the key to enjoying your classes is choosing classes you like in the first place. Before your registration time, actually take some time to look at all your options. Click on individual sections of courses — sometimes they study different specific topics. If you don't like a class the first week of school, you probably won't like it the rest of the semester. If you can afford to, drop it and pick up another. And when you are in class, engage yourself. Bring coffee or water if necessary. If you're easily distracted, bring a stress ball to hold under the table. It gives you something to do when there is a boring moment.

With friends and significant others, unplug. Take some time with the people you care about to turn off your phone and laptop and actually talk.

When preparing for life after college, it's your future and you want to love it. Although it's important to have a back-up plan, focus on jobs you'd actually want to do and places you'd actually want to live. Find someone who's supportive and excited for you and meet regularly to discuss your progress in preparing for that next step.

But overall, no matter what you're doing, you need to drink it black. Go the whole way. Experience it with all of you. You've got to do justice to the people around you, the work you're doing and yourself.