Fall of 2008 begins my second year as a college graduate. Gone are the days, at least for now, of heading back for an academic year chock full of scholastic bliss involving studying, classes, extracurriculars and oh-so-wonderful dorm life. While I am still fortunate enough, for the time being, to live vicariously through friends embarking on their senior year, I can’t help but to reflect back on my own college experience.

When reminiscing on the good ol’ days, the first thing that always comes to mind is the endless list of fictional adages imparted to me, like the horrors of the ‘freshman 15’ and ‘sophomore slump.’ However, the one the takes the cake, which also happens to be the one I can remember hearing the most, like a broken record, is the old ‘don’t worry, you have time’ line.

If someone gave me a quarter for every time I heard that phrase, I’d be one happy millionaire. If I could count the times I shouldn’t have listened to this universal aphorism, I would be farther along in life than I am now.

So why is this the biggest myth? Well, for starters, college, filled with never-ending commitments and obligations that eat away at your barely existent free time, goes by faster than a blink of the eye. And because of its incredibly fast speed and all that you are expected to accomplish in such little time, coasting by on the idea that there will always be time to sort out life can lead to trouble, making a focused mind go lax, resulting in procrastination that hinders essential growth and progress.

Didn’t do your best to get into that class you wanted? Don’t worry there’s time. Didn’t apply for that amazing internship? Don’t worry there’s time. Didn’t do well on that really important exam? Don’t worry, there’s the next one.

Too bad those crusading that there’s always time fail to emphasize that all of those exams you shouldn’t ‘worry’ about determine how well you’ll do, which affects your GPA, which may affect acceptance to graduate/professional schools which, like a domino effect, continues to affect other areas of your life.

Now, while I’m not advocating that anyone journey through the upcoming school year with a level of stress high enough to cause a heart attack or stroke, I would like to hammer home the following point; putting off important decisions and/or taking lightly the importance of giving college your all, based on the premise that there’s always time, is an egregious mistake that prevents anyone from maximizing the amazing experience a college education is suppose to provide.

School should involve active thinking that leads to doing. If you believe you’ll always ‘have time’ you won’t bother to seize the present and accomplish anything.

My best advice to any college student, regardless of their year, is to live each day like it’s their last. Always do your very best at whatever it is you must tackle. Have goals and relentlessly pursue them.