…get FOMO from a poetry night you didn’t even like.

...GET FOMO FROM A POETRY NIGHT YOU DIDN’T EVEN LIKE.

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The sheer volume of possibilities at these institutions is intoxicating, isn't it? Every club, every lecture, every networking mixer, every obscure student performance screams "opportunity." We arrive, eager to make the most of it, to collect experiences like badges of honor. Soon, that enthusiasm morphs into a subtle, then undeniable, pressure. You find yourself overcommitted, stretched thin across commitments you barely remember signing up for.

Remember that feeling? Scrambling from a late-night study session to an early morning panel discussion, all while juggling an internship application and three group projects. And then there's the social circuit. The endless invites. The unspoken expectation that to truly "have gone" here, you must have done it all, seen it all, been everywhere.

That’s where the real paradox lies. You're scrolling through social media, seeing photos from an open mic poetry night, and a wave of something hits you. Is it regret? Envy? You barely like poetry, certainly not the angst-ridden kind performed by amateur students. Yet, there it is: that gnawing sense of missing out. The fear that by not being there, you somehow failed to fully embrace the "experience." It’s FOMO, for something you didn't even want. It's the unique brand of exhaustion that comes from chasing every shadow of potential, even the unappealing ones, just to prove you could. It's a rite of passage, perhaps, but a peculiar one.

#StudentLife #CollegeExperience #IvyLeagueLife #AlumniVibes #Overcommitment #FOMOIsReal #HigherEd