College is probably the busiest time in your life. Between studying, classes, making sure to call your mom every day to ensure her you are still alive, and taking cat naps throughout the day to compensate for not sleeping the night before, you pretty much are just as booked as Beyoncé.
So what do you do when your friends make spontaneous plans to hit up a day party on Thursday night while you have class, or make a trip down to the beach on a Saturday when you should be studying for your midterm? Well, what you should really do is straighten out your priorities and realize going out probably isn’t the smartest idea.
But there’s that god-forsaken itch you have to go anyway, because you feel like the one time we don’t join in will definitely be the time your friends break one of the golden rules of feminism – having fun without you. You’re sick with the sickest of all sicknesses – even worse than that one time you got mono from the random guy you locked lips with at a frat party a month ago. That’s right, we’re talking Fear Of Missing Out. FOMO is when you don’t want to miss the party because what if it turn into the next Project X, and you’re left sitting in class going through the Snapstories of it. Or maybe you don’t want to miss the beach trip because what if your friends discover a whole new island without you and end up on the news looking flawless, and you’re sitting on the couch watching them with popcorn stuck in your hair and Hot Cheeto dust on your fingers.
What do the two above scnearios have in common? Social media. If you were to just put your phone away and log yourself out of your Facebook account the next time you desperately just need to get some work done, we can assure you that you will get everything done faster and more efficiently than ever – all while having your mind at peace without all of the “effortless” Instragrams of other people’s glamrous lives (we’ll tell you a secret: those perfect photos always take hours to set up!).
Going out with your friends this time isn’t going to be any different than the norm. Sasha is still going to get the whole squad lost, and Hannah is going to go MIA by the end of the night. We can guarantee you that it will be the same stuff, just a different day. Same girls, different outfits. You are not going to miss anything. And even if it is a once-a-year event, it’s not as special as it may seem at the moment. There’s always next year for the event, or next week for seeing your besties. Moral of the story, don’t feel bad! Odds are, your friends are not going to become international pop sensations without you, or have drinks with Rihanna like you’re imagining. So like we would say back in 2001, “take a chill pill” and get your work done. If you want to have drinks with Rihanna, you better make sure you end up being successful, because the best only hang out with the best.