By Chad Fukuoka

      Most people feel college is a place to study, and then study even more. Often, students forget to create a balance between work and play, leading to stress and uncontrolled emotional swings. I was in the same position during my first semester of college. I was getting good grades, but frequently at the expense of spending time with my friends or participating in activities that I enjoyed, such as basketball or taking care of my dog. It reached the point where I hardly had any time to watch television or email my friends because I was too worried about trying to get the highest score in my class.

      You might be wondering what happened to me or whether I even solved my problems. During my second semester of college, a lot of devastating events occurred in my life. My best friend dropped out of her classes, another was in a car accident, and another got into trouble with campus security. These events made me realize there are way more important things in life than doing well in school, like having good friends, a supporting family, and just enjoying your life. A person won’t always be judged by their individual performance, there are redeeming qualities such as loyalty, trust and kindness that are involved in making friends and acquaintances. Without these, can a person really find true happiness if they are likely to go through life alone?

       Anyway, I missed three weeks of school to help out my friends and that allowed me to explore other areas of my life, I did volunteer activities and started to look for a job. I also regained contact with several people that I haven’t seen for over a year. I’m going to have to transfer to another college because of my missed days, but that’s okay. I’ll still have my activities and a job for the five months until I go back to school. The main thing is I learned a lot about myself in this process and I’ll look back on it and be glad I made this decision.