Last year, I went to the Lana Del Ray concert over at Pittsburgh’s Star Lake venue. We were outside, listening to a live performance — two of the most beautiful and simple things in the world — and people could not get off their phones. They were recording every single second of the concert.

There was no living in the moment or enjoying what was right in front of you. Everyone was focused on if they would be able to relive the moment days or months later. Now, I took a handful of photos to remember the moment, but I paid to be there — not to watch it pixelated in the future.

As I approach the halfway mark in my college journey, I am more fearful than ever that I may miss out on some monumental, life-changing moment if I am not always doing something. The internet, Hollywood and influencers have long been setting the standard that college gives us the best years of our lives. If you skip one class, stay home a singular Saturday night or skip the coffee with friends, your life is over. 

FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, is a serious disease we all suffer from. Since I was in middle school, I would go to school with a slight cold just to make sure I did not miss out on the gossip during lunch. I even cried when my mom prevented me from hanging out with my friends if I was grounded in high school. 

Now, we have an exceptional amount of freedom, so why not just attend every event and soak up all the information possible until we stretch ourselves as thin as slime? Unless you have a photographic memory or Albert Einstein-level IQ, there is no human way to have it all. 

Life, especially college, should not be about being there for everything just to make memories. At the core, we are here for ourselves.

With the much-anticipated spring break quickly approaching, I can say I was in shock that so many of my friends and students are taking trips to exotic places and the less-exciting Florida. I always heard of the lore regarding spring break but never realized how big it was until recently. 

Our youth can feel like such a short time frame, with only a few years to make memories and gain the experience that we will remember in our old age and share with our grandkids. Because of social media, we feel so involved and stay up to date on everything going on, but when that one minute slips by unnoticed, we so quickly feel out of the loop.

I am the queen of eavesdropping — maybe because I am nosy — but mostly because I want to be involved. Whether it be at work, class or my other campus involvements, missing one moment could be my potential downfall. 

There are a lot of hills I have talked about in my past 16 articles, and I can all relate them back to the feeling of missing out. The college experience is unique for everyone, so share what you can and miss things, but do not make one moment that slips by feel like the end of the world. You do not want to die on a hill filled with regrets about moments you missed. 

FOMO is an extreme disease, but there is a cure — it is called living.