Embrace the Madness

I am crazy about making homemade granola bars. I love trying new restaurants. I look forward to posting photos on my Instagram and seeing what my friends across the country are doing.

I am a Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars fan who will happily share my opinion with you on the direction I think the famous franchises are headed. I watch movies and talk about them for a week like they are real life.

I get excited when I take a good photo or edit something nicely. I am crazy about coffee and adorable coffee shops. The list of things I get excited about goes on and on.

If I am crazy about something, I will gladly tell you about it over and over and over again. All my friends are probably nodding their heads right now.

The truth is we all have random things we are mad for. Whether it’s our favorite food, movies, drink, sports team, music or pastime, we all have things we get really excited about and maybe even a little embarrassed to confess openly.

I feel like, as a super busy individual who flows from meetings to class to more meetings to more classes, I spend most of my day talking about work or classwork. I don’t want to talk about the little random things I am obsessed with at the moment because they don’t feel as important.

When I am solving the world’s problems or fighting to make a change, it hardly seems like the time to talk about how excited I am to pile up on the couch and watch “Phineas and Ferb” or “Gilmore Girls” at the end of the day.

But honestly, we all need those little obsessions because they bring us a different kind of joy.

I find extreme joy and life satisfaction in the work I am doing. I love USI and getting to serve the university as Editor-in-Chief of The Shield and having passionate conversations with the most incredible, kind-hearted people on campus.

I love working with people. I love getting to be a platform for their voices and knowing we as The Shield are making an impact.

However, there is a type of joy that comes from those random obsessions you don’t get from work, and I am a firm believer we need both types of joy.

March is the point of the spring semester when we reconsider our life choices to be a student. It’s the middle of the semester. Projects and papers are in full swing. Exams are commonplace.

It’s also the month of the 2023 NCAA March Madness tournament. Spring events are popping up for everyone. New movies are coming out. It’s truthfully madness trying to stay on top of everything both for school and for life and personal enjoyment.

The purpose of “March Madness” is to let you know it is okay to indulge in things you are obsessed with. Watch the whole NCAA tournament. Go to the movies. Go to that restaurant with friends.

Still, of course, get your work done, but do not feel like you have to cut yourself short of the joy of being mad for something. This is my third year as a student, and I have found the best way to make it through a tough time is to mix the fun with the work.

For me, going to a coffee shop for a couple of hours makes me way more motivated and allows me to work better on schoolwork. Having a movie night on the calendar motivates me to get my daily work done faster and more efficiently.

The random things you enjoy are important to me and to the people around you because they make you human. They are a part of what makes you an interesting person.

Embrace the madness.