By Austin King
When I accepted the Opinion Editor position at the In Motion in February of 2010, I could have never imagined how much I would grow as a person during my tenure. The past two years have had their ups and downs, but I will always remember the friendship we have shared as a staff.
As this will be my last op-ed with the newspaper, I have decided to set aside the politics and controversy that dominate the news and would like to share my own version of “Common Sense.”
Try not to become lost in the shuffle of your daily life. Many college students are juggling jobs, classes and homework while going to school, but you have to make time for yourself. Too often, we lose who we are in the midst of all of the work.
We now live in a world that has no “off” button, a 24/7 world filled with 6.8 billion Energizer bunnies, just going, and going and going. Stop and ask yourself, who am I? Now, answer the question again, without mentioning your job, or your schoolwork. If you bid adieu to hustle and bustle for just one hour a day, you are guaranteed to lead a happier life.
Why?
The answer is simple — we are social creatures, we need friends.
According to leading sociologists, Americans are becoming more socially isolated than ever before. Robert Putnam, a Harvard University Professor, told Time Magazine, “Social isolation has many well-documented side effects. Kids fail to thrive. Crime rises. Politics coarsens. Generosity shrivels. Death comes sooner (social isolation is as big a risk factor for premature death as smoking).”
Gallup conducted a poll on the happiness vs. stress level of everyday Americans, and it determined that spending time with family and friends is vital to daily emotional wellbeing. This may seem obvious, but the number of respondents that were unhappy shows there is still work to be done.
No career, no school and no technology should lead you toward a life of social isolation. We all have a story to tell, but we can’t do it alone.
Thank you for a platform to tell my story for two years; it has been an honor to write for the In Motion.